Until more details come out (I am with several other of our brothers above in thinking that there's gotta be more to this story), from my experience as an airsoft replica collector and skirmish gamer (c.late 90s-early oughts), I will offer the conjecture that a supposed "firearms expert" typically would -NOT- have made the mistake that the shooter claimed he made.
Even though materials and overall finish may be very, very similar -to the point that a visual inspection from even tabletop distance in good lighting will NOT be conclusive, for even those who would claim to be enthusiasts of the specific make/model of the firearms in-question- the overall subjective feel and objective "heft" will often be slightly or very apparently "off"/incorrect.
Going back to my collecting/skirmish-gaming days, I was somewhat well-known in the community, and had several very high-grade pieces in my collection - and I was asked by one of my friends to lay out two of my replica Beretta 92-series replicas on a table, mixed with its "real steel" (which is what we in the airsoft community call "real" firearms) -cleared and safe- counterpart. Our mutual friend, who had several Beretta 92-series firearms in his collection, was then invited to examine, without the ability to pick up and handle, the guns from every perspective (the muzzle and base-pads were taped-off and obscured, to prevent him from being able to spot the usual tells of the true "inner" 6mm bore BB-barrel and the gas charging port, respectively). In addition to the actual firearm, he mis-identified one of the replicas was real.
Modern replicas now go so far as to try to emulate the polymer bodies of polymer-frame firearms with plastics that are of similar texture/feel and density. Metal (typically "pot-metal," but various high-end production pieces use 6061 or 7075 aluminum, with from-billet one-off makes actually not unheard of in the custom-build sector [i.e. replicas by Clarence Lai, aka Airsoft Surgeon, who was a very popular BB-IPSC competitor and sought-after custom builder based out of Hong Kong]) slides are now not at all uncommon, and together with aftermarket tricks designed specifically to help these replicas handle in a manner similar to their real-steel counterparts (heavyweight steel barrels, tungsten guide-rods, etc.), they can come close.
Even so, to think that any responsible firearm owner would risk having real firearms and their replicas in the same general area (think about the type of safety checks that's seen at modern Force-on-Force classes), that's unthinkable, as all of us -to-a-man- reaffirmed throughout this thread. Similarly, for any airsoft collector or skirmish gamer, to think that we would even point a (BB) loaded replica at someone's head -especially without eye-protection- as a joke? Again, unthinkable.
www.yahoo.com
