My youngest son was heavy into Air Soft before he was old enough to get real guns and he brought home a full size 1911 “spring gun” that I “confiscated”. The trigger pull was atrocious and the sights were marginal at best but for holster drills it was the Cats A$$. It also liked “sniper weight” pellets 62gr (??? I think). If you could press through the trigger pull the doggone thing was amazingly accurate at 7 yds. A coffee can full of news paper with a blue tape cover screwed to the garage door offered a nice catch can. Be advised, WERE EYE PROTECTION!!! I bounced one off the lip of the can when shooting from retention position and it left a nice welt on my right cheek.
Spring guns are one shot affairs and I specifically did not train to do a FTF drill with it, only holster / draw work. When I went to the real thing I had no issue transitioning and truth be told I think my accuracy was better, my speed was certainly faster.
I have 2 officially licensed Glock 19x air soft guns. They have an ok trigger but work well. I use them for teaching people to work angles and corners and close range speed shooting. It’s not a perfect solution but it is an economical option . I also use them for force on force practice for those clients that want to take things to another level.
Not for firearms training per se, but we used them for years in my combatives program to pressure test weapons retention, impact weapon vs firearms, and empty hand vs firearms training. In the past few years, the guy I worked for invested heavily in Simunitions equipment. So we used it a lot for force on force scenarios. Truth to tell, both have their strengths and weaknesses. But for actual firearms training? Nah. Stick to the real deal. Nothing wrong with dry fire training! The laser stuff out nowadays is the bees knees.
I’m curious about this myself. Air soft guns seem to be a little easier and more affordable than a blue gun. I also wouldn’t mind an airside rifle either. It would also be nice to have a training aid that is clearly not real.
I do dry fire practice in the house, but it’s a whole process of checking to make sure the guns clear like 3 times. Making sure ammo is not in reach. Making sure mags are all empty as only snap caps are present if I’m practicing reloads. That’s all nice, but I’d be more comfortable training with a blue gun or air soft gun in the garage with a punching bag for example.
Cindy and I will use airsoft when we do small personal classes for folks who are very afraid of guns. Most of the fears come from personal history or just some very poor introductions to firearms in the past. We have the better pistols CO2 powered that have slide action and surprisingly accurate. This way they get the equal to a 22LR pistol as far as feel and if a issue arises the worst the airsoft can give is a welt and we can shoot them in the living room with the target traps I have made.
I just picked up a Sig P320 air gun. So far, so good. The blowback obviously doesn’t have the same momentum as a normal P320, but it’s nicely weighted, and looking to be very accurate, at least at my initial 10 yard practice.
I looked at the airsoft versions of the same gun, the M17 and M18 versions, but the reviews seem pretty bad. Many of them note the orange “nozzle” breaking off in short order. Anyone have experience with Sig airsofts?
I have a generic compact 1911 airsoft BB gun. I use it to do dry fire practice. I have two holsters that it can fit. I practice drawing from holster. Mainly outside the waistband and occasionally Ill throw a garment on and practice drawing from concealment. But when I want to do actual reloads with snap caps I transition to using my actual firearm to do that and work on different drills with that.
Late to the air soft game! What brand of 1911 BB gun do you recommend? I’ve seen a few on Amazon like the Sig Sauer.
I want to set up an IDPA course range in my backyard.
I have a 6’ vinyl fence, will projectiles/BB’s damage or pierce it!
What would you use as a backstop on a budget?
I trust Unimarex. So my choice would be Colt 1911.
I think Sig 1911 is made my other Manufacturer.
BB guns come with different muzzle speed, so it’s hard to tell what happens to your fence once is shot. A lot depends on distance. The energy drops fast with the distance.
I’m using Beretta APX and BBs go through 0.5" plastic board and stop at carton box behind it. I’m practicing in my basement, max 30 feet.
