[Bauholzwolf]

If there's a lot of background noise and commotion going on, no one is going to have a bloody clue where it came from, especially if you're camouflaged decently and changing positions after every shot (or two, given circumstances). One of the worst mistakes you can make as a "sniper" in Airsoft is taking shot placements like a real sniper. Unfortunately the guy has to be almost on top of you for your shots to be accurate, and if you miss your first one, each follow up shot is going to increase your chances of being spotted exponentially. You have to chose a good spot and fire when he isn't quite looking right at you, because if you miss and he notices that you have fired, you're going to have a wall of BB's coming your way. If you miss, lay still for a moment - if you use black BB's or if there's a lot of action going on around you, your prey may not have noticed what just happened.

I would suggest going with a well-upgraded semi-automatic AEG so if you need to make some rapid follow up shots you can do so. Having to quickly rotate the bolt in the heat of the moment can be cumbersome, whereas with the semi you can just squeeze the trigger a second time. I say M14 all the way for airsoft.

However, ask me the same question in regards to real-world sniping, and I'll tell you this: A bolt action or single-shot rifle is a true sniper rifle. Semi-automatics are sniper support weapons. The accuracy of a bolt is far superior to a semi-automatic, and in real world shooting the distances are much, much, much greater than that of airsoft - so accuracy plays a massive role. In airsoft, however, its all about practicality.