Best Airsoft Sniper Rifle: A 2019 In-Depth Guide

Snipers are great on any airsoft team. Being able to hit targets from afar is a great way to catch the enemy off guard.

On top of that, many airsoft fields give you a muzzle velocity advantage if you use a bolt action.

For example, one airsoft field I know of restricts automatic or semi-automatic airsoft rifles to 385 FPS, whereas bolt-action sniper rifles are restricted to 575 FPS.)

If your ideal playstyle is being covert while taking down enemies at a distance, then getting a sniper rifle makes perfect sense.

There's something you need to understand about airsoft sniper rifles.

The best airsoft sniper rifles are built, not bought.

I repeat: Airsoft sniper rifles that have the ability to be super accurate while shooting BBs at long distances — and I'm talking up to 100 yards away — have to be built.

The BIGGEST mistake you can make is thinking the airsoft sniper rifle you bought will be amazing out of the box.

"WTF. But I don't know to build an airsoft sniper rifle. Where the hell do I even begin?"

The thing is, building your very own airsoft sniper rifle is easier than you might think.

But first, you'll need to buy the right parts.

If you're still here, that means you're one of the few willing to put in the time and effort to master the airsoft sniper rifle.

Hell yeah!

Now comes the fun part, which is deciding what sniper to buy.

There's one rule you need to remember when buying a bolt-action sniper rifle.

Never get an airsoft sniper rifle that can't be upgraded.

Remember how I said sniper rifles are built, not made? Not being able to upgrade one means you end up wasting a ton of money.

There are TWO base rifles you should consider getting.

Those two rifles are:

1. Tokyo Marui VSR-10
2. JG Bar-10

There are two reasons why I recommend these particular rifles.

The first reason is that these rifles have a ton of upgradeable part available.

As I mentioned before, this makes it both easier and more affordable to build a high-end rifle.

The second reason is that these rifles have a ton of support from the airsoft community.

It's been tried and tested by skilled airsoft players. If they had no issues with it, your most likely not going to have any issues either.

Let's take a closer look at what makes these rifles so good.

Now that you've decided on a base rifle, there's something you need to do before you consider upgrading it.

Get comfortable with the rifle.

Use it as much as you can in the beginning, and understand what its limitations are.

You'll learn so much that way, and you'll get a clearer picture as to why you need to upgrade it in the first place.

Aimlessly upgrading the rifle without understanding why will just make things worse in the long run.

Once you do that, THEN you should start thinking about upgrading your airsoft sniper rifle.

So that you've understood the limitations of your rifle, you can now ask yourself the question.

What should you upgrade first?

The answer to that is easier than you might think.

Something you need to know is that accuracy is way more important than power for your rifle. If you can't hit your target, then power is pretty meaningless.

Here's the order you should upgrade your airsoft sniper rifle in:

1. Barrel & Chamber
2. BBs
3. Trigger Components
4. Piston/Cylinder
5. Springs

The barrel of your airsoft sniper rifle is one of the most important parts you can upgrade.

You need to be able to consistently hit your target at long distances, so the better the barrel, the easier that is to accomplish.

The best length for a barrel is whatever one is closest to the length of the stock barrel. So in the case of the VSR-10, a 430mm barrel length upgrade would be perfect.

The barrel upgrade I highly recommend is the Laylax VSR-10 Inner Barrel. Laylax barrels are accurate, affordable, and are one of the most common aftermarket barrels used.

The hop-up chamber is another upgrade you should get. Although you'd be ok with the stock in the VSR-10, getting the TM Precision Chamber will improve your accuracy.

BBs are more important than you probably think.

Heavy BBs are more accurate than lighter BBs, so consider something between 0.30-0.45g when looking for the right one for your rifle.

BLS, Madbull and Bioshot have some great BBs, so try to get one of those brands if you can.

You want your trigger to be able to fire at the slightest tug of your finger. The less time it takes between you pulling the trigger and the BB being fired, the faster the BB gets to your target.

The Laylax Zero Trigger is one of the best triggers out there, so I would recommend that.

Another trigger that gets tossed around in conversations is the PDI V Trigger. There might be compatibility issues that come from using a PDI trigger, so I would stay away from them unless you really want one.

You want a piston that can maintain a good seal and that's durable.

Although the Zero Trigger comes with a solid piston, you can upgrade it to something a bit better. The best piston I've come across has come from Polar Star. High-quality, great air-seal, and very durable.

Cylinders aren't really necessary to upgrade, so feel free to skip it if you want. It is nice to upgrade though, and something like the Laylax Teflon makes the pull of the cylinder much smoother.

Now we get to the spring. Laylax springs work well and are inexpensive. Another choice is the Action Army spring, which is pretty solid overall.