Airsoft Sniper Guide (Loadout & Tips)


Airsoft player with the sniper

Sniping in airsoft may seem easy, but to be a good sniper it takes lots of practice, skill improvements, gear upgrades, and above everything, the patience to score the perfect shot.


Sniping just suits some players better than others, so if you feel like you are a natural-born sniper take some time and explore all the opportunities that sniping brings to airsoft.


In this guide, I will share some tips on becoming a better sniper player, but bear in mind that if you are just starting out to first try this role in a couple of games and only after some practice decide to go all in.

The reason behind this is that often players like the idea of sniping and get an expensive sniper machine along with the fancy gear only to realize that the sniping is not for them a couple of games later.

Sniping requires lots of tactics, patience, and will to stay hidden instead of the aggressive engagement playstyle.

What I have found out to be a thing for some players is a DMR role because it sits exactly between sniping and classic rifleman role, so if sniping seems too hardcore you can read my explanation of the DMR role after this guide because tips in this guide apply similarly to both playstyles.

Are you still following? Good, let’s see what will make you a true airsoft sniper assassin in the fields.

1. Choose a good sniper

Even a mediocre sniper can do miracles in hands of good players, but a high-end sniper will make things easier and open a whole set of possibilities.


You do not need the most expensive sniper out there to start but bear in mind that most players who choose the role of a sniper do upgrade their gun with time.


The thing with airsoft snipers is that you can upgrade it with time, so it is only important that you choose a good starting model that is upgrade-friendly.


Upgrades often calculate twice the money you spent for your starter sniper at the beginning, but they certainly are not only expensive but worth it.

Yes, to have a superb sniper can be expensive, so do not rush into it and see whether you like sniping that much or it was just a phase.

Primary benefits of upgraded or high-tier snipers:

  • Better effective range
  • Sturdier build

You can find some recommended beginner snipers in my short review post, you can use it as a reference to find something of the higher tier as well if you want to.

2. Choose good optics

Aiming without optics is extremely hard, but aiming with bad optics is even harder.
Sniping people at great distances requires good optics that will make your shots accurate, so with some practice, you can become a real threat.

Benefits of good optics

  • Clear vision under different light circumstances
  • Accurate display
  • Easy distance management

Bear in mind that to precisely land shots you will need to take more factors into acquisition such as the wind and branches and leaves that may block shots.

3. Wear camouflage

Camouflage helps you remain unseen, but for camouflage to work, you will need to incorporate other elements into your playstyle such as understanding the cover placements, moving tactically while staying low or behind enemy eyes, and of course, remaining patient.


Remember, people’s eyes are good at registering movement, so no matters how good you are at looking like grass, the real grass does not move like a human.

Airsoft sniper sniping down the target


Camouflage is not just about covering yourself with the random green sheet but it rather requires some creativity from you.
Preparation is my favorite part of airsoft and in this process, you should work on bringing your stealth factor to the skies.

How to choose good camouflage:

  • There are four seasons and each season has unique colors that describe it just as there is more or less vegetation around.
    This means that you will need different camo sets for each season and sometimes the weather.
    In the fall go for brown, yellow, and black combinations, in the summer and spring add more green and get rid of the yellow while choose only white and black during the winter season.
  • Although optional, you can paint your face with the usual three colors (green, black, and brown) during all seasons except the winter. During the winter, some black color around the eyes will do.

I found a remarkable Ghillie Suit on Amazon, it covers you from head to toe and even comes with camouflage sniper wrap. You can choose between woodlands and field grass options in various sizes, so get something like this and you’ll become a ghost.

4. Stay low or high but never in front

One of the things I have learned that work quite well for CQB games is to utilize corners and never be in the middle, the similar approach can be used for open fields but it allows us to be way more creative.

The human eye will prioritize things in front and in the middle, but anything at corners or high above in the peripheral vision won’t be prioritized unless it moves.


Because the human eye can spot moves you should not move much once you take cover in these spots.
If you have good camouflage and know how to position it in this way, you will have lots of success.

5. Choose the high ground

For airsoft snipers, it is all about having visual control over enemy lines while keeping it incognito.
If you feel safe and capable, climb the trees, hills or find the roofs and high windows where you have greater vision over the field.


This is not only useful for sniping enemies down but can also be used for recon purposes and if you are good at communicating you can lead your team to victory.

6. Use covers (preferably natural)

Covers are what make you invisible and deadly, so never fight at open fields, never!

This also creates a synergy with the camouflage that you’ll be rocking, so take the most out of it.

The thing with natural covers is that they will make you an unexpected target that is highly invisible, if you go for man-made covers they won’t only match poorly with your camouflage but will also make the enemies more likely to check that position.

Camouflaged airsoft player behind cover
Photo by Daniel Stuben

Players expect other players to take covers behind obvious covers and they may even pre-fire just to check whether someone is behind it.

As you may expect, no one pre-fires the bush, the tree or the earth.

7. Know the field

Before you get to the field, it is suggested that you already know the map of the field so you can cut the time otherwise spent for exploration and get straight in action.

For best performance, the strategy is created and trained before the match starts.

The more time you spend figuring out the field while in the match, the more of the timing you lose.

This is also important factor because you have to calculate the exit points in case that you have to retreat.

If it is not your first game in the field, you will be okay but if it is, it is suggested to walk throughout the field and observe it.

You can also look for the field map if the one exists on the field website or ask someone to aid you.

8. Carry a quick secondary gun

A secondary airsoft gun is always recommended because it should come as a backup that will erase weaknesses of your primary playstyle.


As an airsoft sniper, you won’t be able to shoot at targets under certain MED limits. Although rules vary from field to field, let’s say that MED for snipers is 100 feet+, you will have to use a low-velocity airsoft gun for under 100 feet engagements.


A quick airsoft pistol in the holster is enough to take care of the business when enemy players close the distance on you.


The other thing is that snipers are slow and if you miss a shot, enemy fire will respond with 10 shoots in between each of your shots causing lots of pressure on you and eventually overwhelm you.
Seconday gun with higher rate of fire will help a lot.

I recommend a quick GameFace AEG non-blowback pistol, but you can find a few more good picks for non-blowback pistols in my review post.

At the second spot you can find the GameFace AEG with some specifications and a short review.

You can use other guns beside pistols for secondary gun, so choose between pistols, shotguns and SMGs or some other AEGs or GBBs that fit the criteria.

Some of the shotguns that I also recommend can be used for both, the primary and secondary gun, so if you want to switch off the sniper, a shotgun is a good choice, especially for CQB and shorter fields with lots of buildings and close covers.

9. Be patient

Just like in hunting, the pray shall come to you instead of you being the one that chases.
Hopefully, most airsoft fields are not nearly as big and have enough players, so you won’t have to wait in the bush for past the day to catch someone off guard.

As a matter of fact, there will rarely be a time when you won’t see enemies in the distance, but the real ability is to wait for the right moment and to tactically work your way to the position where you stand advantage.

Remember, everything is about timing and if you are not patient and want to force kills, you will more often miss or reveal your position than be successful.

10. Communicate with the team

You are more than just a deadly sniper that assassinates people from above, due to the nature of your playstyle you can be a great team informer, so communicate with the team.


This requires team play, so you won’t think about this if you play solo but playing with a team that communicates takes the game to the next level and does a better job at replicating the real battle environment.


Remember, no one plays solo and only goes for the kills in real-life battles, so do not miss the opportunity to inform your team about enemy lines once you have the high ground.


You can use walkie-talkies for this purpose or radio.

11. Stay close but not too close to the team

As a sniper, you do not want to be between your team but rather away from them because at beginning of the matches you won’t need their backup.
Yet after you advance through the objectives and the field their help may come quite useful, so it is ideal to stay away from them at unexpected places but never too far, so you can not follow them or ask for help.

If you play with friends who can communicate well tell them where you are and ask for information.

Often your teammates will have a problem taking enemies down if the enemy team knows to use a cover, in this case abandon your position and adjust it to help your teammates.

Remember, as a sniper you can surprise enemies because they do not expect you and will rather engage with your teammates in front.

One good angle from above and its game over for them, your team takes objective and after the match, you enjoy a brew together laughing!

12. Practice because practice is everything

Practice truly is everything but as I say, if you practice the wrong way you will only be better at doing it the wrong way.

Therefore, think about the wind, the humility in the air, the positioning and such things.

Training with live targets is also a big thing, so if you can it would be great to invite friends and train with movable objects because a can or a target on the wall does not move and in reality, people move at different speeds.

With some engineering, you could create your personal movable target but it certainly takes lots of skills, so stick to the friends.

You can shoot cans in your backyard or nearby wood if you need something for beginning.

To make things harder, climb the trees, crawl through the leaves and earth and go out on a windy day to make things more difficult, make it interesting!

13. Record your games and enjoy it

One of the ways to improve is to record your games because this way you won’t only end up with great recordings of your best moments but will also learn a lot on how to improve by seeing what you could do better and thus adjust the next time.

For example, some of your shoots may hit the target if you adjusted to the wind but the BB flew a few inches to the left, it’s easy to spot it on the video.

Take a look what this man does with the sniper, you will learn a lot!

As you can see, landing shots is not easy but if you are skillful enough and pay attention to the positioning, adjust to the wind and never lose temper, you can have one of these compilations of yours in the future!

I recommend that you check my guide on choosing the best camera for airsoft with the set-up!

Final take on airsoft snipers

There you go, take the sniper in hands, go out and practice.

As you progress, you will upgrade the gear and become better and more efficient, just take it easy.

One more piece of advice I can give you is to get rid of the excessive gear you do not need in order to be more stealthy, if you need help with choosing what to wear to airsoft games check my other post dedicated to it.

Follow airsoft sniper youtubers and learn tricks in action from them, it will help you a big time.

Have a good day and good luck with your next airsoft game!

Dino

Dino is a thrill seeker who loves to share what he learns about his favorite hobbies.

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