Airsoft: Midcaps vs Highcaps

An age old question in Airsoft has been whether or not to run High cap magazines, or Mid cap magazines. In this article, I'll be going over both the pros and cons of either magazine using my personal experience from both Mil-Sim and casual Airsoft games.

First off, the High-cap magazine. Great for airsofters on budget as they can hold anywhere from 250 to 600 bb's (depending on the gun the magazine is for). They allow a player to only have to carry a few mags, while laying down a rain of fire on the enemy team. Due to their large capacities, they allow airsofters to spray and pray and be their own "one man firing squad".

These large capacities also come with a drawback. The bbs are loosely contained in the magazines, which causes the bbs inside to rattle around while running. You'll be far from stealthy. As well as having a pair of moroccos strapped on your gun, High caps also tend to misfeed commonly and require quite a bit of winding to shoot.

To recap:

Pros:
1. High capcity.
2. Allows a player to carry less magazines.
3. Relatively cheaper since fewer magazines are required.
4. Spray and Pray ( good for newbies, bad for pros).

Cons:
1. Rattle while running.
2. Misfeed a lot.
3. Need constant winding.

Now onto Mid-cap magazines. The first thing you'll notice when you fill one up (or don't notice) is the sound. Absolutely no rattling at all. On top of that, Mid caps have exceptional feeding when they are properly maintained. They hold an average of around 100 bbs, but when you pop one in, you know you'll have a 100 rounds of pain to dish out, no winding necessary at all.

However, as reliable as Mid-caps are, they are high maintenance. They require constant cleaning and lubing of the springs or else forget about it. They also require a speedloader to load bbs into the mag, which can be a pain to constantly have to reload the speedloader to load your mag. Due to their low capacity, you'll also have to carry more magazines on the field, which means more weight to carry and more magazines to buy.

To recap:

Pros:
1. Excellent feeding.
2. Reliable.
3. No rattle.
4. Fun reloading in a firefight.
5. Realistic.

Cons:
1. Lower capacity.
2. More magazines need to be carried.
3. Higher maintenance
4.Relatively more expensive due to the higher number of magazines needed to be purchased.

I personally prefer Mid-cap magazines over High-cap magazines on the field primarily due to the fact that Mid-caps feed much better. I also enjoy the realism it bring in having to reload and carry multiple magazines. However, when not playing Mil-sim games I also like to carry two High-cap magazines in the case that I used up all my other mags. I would suggest you try them both out and see which fits better into your playing style.