Action Air is an airsoft shooting sport based on practical shooting under the International Practical Shooting Confederation. The sport enjoys popularity in countries and areas such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and Japan, where civilian ownership of real firearms are either illegal or extremely difficult to obtain, but it is also used by some owners of real firearms as an affordable and easily available training tool. Action air is restricted to handgun, and is not included in the IPSC Tournament structure.
Action Air was adopted by IPSC in 2008 at the General Assembly following the IPSC Handgun World Shoot XV in Bali, Indonesia, and the first approved rule book came in 2009. Up until then, the sport had already been exercised in Japan, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for more than ten years.[1]
The ranges, paper targets and poppers are scaled down to suit airsoft. A stop plate, which is a metal target with electronic that link to an IPSC shot timer, is used to stop the timer and collect the overall stage time. Minor scoring is used, with 5 points for the A zone, 3 points for the C zone and 1 point for the D zone. Metal targets have to be light enough to be knocked over, and are usually made of 3 mm aluminum or 1.7 mm steel. Popper metal targets are calibrated to require a good hit to make them fall.
Eye protection is mandatory, and even though airsoft is considered less dangerous than real firearms, all normal rules for firearm safety should apply in order to build good habits.