Someone told me that, to save money, he trains with a Airsoft blowback pistol. I wondering if anyone else does this, and how similar an Airsoft Pistol is to firing a 9mm? Does the Airsoft have a similar amount of recoil?
https://www.airsoftstation.com/gas-airsoft-pistols/
Thanks,
Randy
Last edited by randyflycaster; 07-03-2018 at 12:45 PM.
Randy - airsoft has its place in force on force training, but, for recoil control and other marksmanship issues, I don't think it's much help. It MIGHT be better than dry fire IF your airsoft pistol has a trigger that closely mimics your real pistols (not usually the case), but the amount of recoil is negligible.
The recoil difference is not even close. Usually the trigger feels completely different as well, mine does. It’s good for Force on Force or scenario based training because it’s similar is shape and usually fits in your holsters. Beyond that, you’re better off dry practicing with your actual pistol.
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Airsoft replicas are the only affordable entry ticket into force-on-force type training, but I would not say they are particularly good for dry firing or practicing. The construction is pretty low-quality and the materials used are subpar, the barrel is a smoothbore and upward spin is provided to the BB via a rubber gadget. The trigger pull is not particularly analogous to an actual firearm.
If you want less expensive training, you'd be better advised to get either a CO2 pellet gun or, better yet, a .22.
For dry fire training use the gun you shoot. For recoil management shoot live fire (if your grip is correct in dry fire it will be a non-issue in live fire)
That being said if you like airsofting or something there are other reasons to buy one I guess. I have owned and shot many and I wouldn't use any of them for actual handgun training personally. They're way too different for the extremely minor gain of fake recoil.
Semper Gumby, Always Flexible
My new nephew in law has been into airsoft since his teen years, it's what got him into real guns later. He's got serious money into his airsoft guns that are worth a damn and none of them have triggers even remotely close to the real thing and the recoil is basically a BB gun.
My friend was showing me an LE-only airsoft Glock online, don't know how I'd find it, but it looked like it broke down like a real Glock.
Eight or ten years ago Airsoft was going to revolutionize USPSA training. Manny Bragg, for one, was using them. I think a lot of people tried them but as best I can tell I don't think it stuck. Make of that what you will.
I think there's definitely role for Airsoft in FOF training. The average person is not going to have access to Sim/UTM rounds (if memory serves in the .mil we had to have a medic on standby just for Sim rounds. Not every LE agency is as strict.)
Designing/running FOF scenarios is both an art and a science and in the hands of someone that doesn't know what he is doing, FOF can quickly delve into creating negative habits. However, it's something I think more people should use. So there's that.
We're required to wear the protective equipment, but no medic on standby.Originally Posted by BigD
Same here. We use SIM rounds and blue Glock 17 sim pistols for FOF. Sister agency uses Airsoft. I personally think SIM is the way to go. More realistic and when we run t-shirts you really don't want to get hit with SIM. Airsoft doesn't even sting....
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