This weekend Larry Vickers mentioned that airsoft could be a decent tool for dry firing shooting on the move (at targets inside 20 yards).
Like most folks, I can’t practice this because no range that I go to will allow it.
Dry practicing with a real (unloaded) weapon could cause some legal issues in my neck of the woods. For example, if I did this in my back yard, my neighbors would call the police and I could be charged with brandishing and assault with a deadly weapon, depending on where the muzzle was pointed.
I am unfamiliar with airsoft type replicas. The only toy gun I have is a Red Ryder bb gun.
What are the good brands that realistically simulate action and trigger pull in a pistol (Glock, S&W M&P) …and an M4 Carbine?
Thank you, and I am sorry for cluttering the T&T forum with an airsoft post.
Not what you’re wanting… but a friend of mine had the police called on him for doing this in his backyard with an airsoft replica, even. No charges were filed but it was a pretty big hassle for him when and caused quite a stir with the homeowners association in his neighborhood.
He ended up spray painting the silly thing bright blue (a la “Blue Guns”) which somehow makes it look less menacing to those around him with more delicate sensibilities.
Just something you might want to keep in mind if you pursue this. Apparently the bright day-glo orange muzzle on his airsoft Glock replica wasn’t enough to tip the neighbors that he wasn’t actually moving through his back yard with a real weapon.
A friend who is pretty hardcore into IPSC has a airsoft version of his customized Limited STI 1911(ish) pistol. It’s pretty cool, surprisingly close match to the real one, and he has little cardboard pepper poppers and IPSC targets hanging all over his garage. It shot pretty good at those ranges.
I looked into getting a G34 version to practice with, I think I arrived at the same brands as Tom_Jones IIRC. I never followed through on buying one though.
I have a target in my basement that I use to “engage” with eother my KWA Glock 19 “gas gun” or an M4 “CQB” clone (battery powered) which looks and weights surprisingly close to my SBR.
Just be careful to put a decent backstop behind the target holder or you might find yourself having to dig out those plastic BB’s from your drywall.
What’s to prevent your neighbors from calling when you go outside with the airsoft? While you may not be charged - not sure where you live, so I am definitely not sure of the law’s - you still run the risk of them calling and the cops showing up.
I have been a proponent of airsoft for training for a long time, but it has limitations. Most of these are easy to figure out. Some are a bit more nuanced. If someone can get over the “dumb kids play airsoft, fnar fnar” mental block, there are a few neat things that can be done with the tool.
With that in mind, I think there are some very interesting items for people who want to practice with airsoft. Gas blowback (GBB) offers the most realistic shooting experience and there are plenty of GBB models out there. Of course any GBB has limitations. First among these limits being you cannot do reload practice as allowing the magazines to drop free and hit the floor will break them. I’m working off of info that’s a few years old, but when I last looked, the KSC model Glocks were the best bang for the buck there was. If memory serves, KWA is a part for part clone (that’s right, a clone of a clone) of the KSC guns, built for the outside-of-Japan markets.
The really interesting thing out there now is a GBB M4 available from Western Arms. It’s spendy at 600 bucks, but it may offer the most realistic shooting experience possible while still slinging BBs.
Either item would offer the shooter looking to practice shooting on the move in a backyard or in a garage a good tool to practice with. I am NOT a fan of using automatic electric guns (AEGs) to practice shooting techniques. The shooter is so disconnected from the shooting experience with an electric gun that he may as well be holding a broomstick with a pistol grip. At least with a GBB there is a real break to the trigger and some recoil. With an AEG, I believe all that people are really practicing is weapon manipulation, not shooting.
Never owned any AEGs or GBBs, but got to take a look at some of them. Interestingly enough, these things can sure get up there in price. There a company called Systema that produces the PTW Professionals Training Weapons series in which the price can be <>/= to the real steel!
I have used airsoft guns for a varity of force on force and CQB training. It is a very valuable tool and definitely has some advantages over simunitions (cost, accuracy, efficiency of use).
The Glock KWA/KSC are good guns.
For a rifle, the Classic Army M15A4 CQB is what I use and what I have seen others use with the most success. The gun holds up well. I have used my current gun for about 100 hours of training with over 1000 room entries. The gun is a toy, so caution should be used, but it is all metal and holds up well.
There is a company in VA that specialized in outfitting LE and Military folks with airsoft gear. Give them a call and tell them what you want. They will steer you in the right directions. http://www.airsoftcqb.com/
We use airsoft guns (gas blowback pistols and electric M4 clones) in our Force on Force Scenario training, and in other training where we don’t/can’t use a real firearm, like basics of shooting from inside vehicles, use of cover with threat armed with airsoft to keep the student honest (the threat pops the student if they expose too much).
So, IMO they are valuable training tools for out to about 10 yds or so.
The mags for the gas guns don’t last forever, and there is some important safety protocol that must be adhered to (establish a sterile training area, triple check safety system before entering the sterile area, mandatory use of eye/face/throat/hand protection, etc.).
I think for that for shooting on the move, etc. airsoft is a great training tool.
I’ve got 3 Airsoft guns I use for training in my basement. Just did this Sunday as a matter of fact. They’re great for working on little details and for shooting on the move.
Also if you can get with a like-minded person and buy a bit of protective gear, your targets don’t have to be static anymore either-- with a long sleeve, heavy shirt and a mask, you can do force-on-force… Safely.
The lower end guns like what I have are around $100 each. I don’t know how much they’ll help things like trigger manipulation (particularly with an electric M4) but they DO help when used properly.
Orange muzzle or not, entire gun painted blue or not, it is not a good idea to have anything in your hands that looks like a gun when the police come calling.
No disagreement here but you’re missing the point. :rolleyes:
Maintaining the orange muzzle or painting the whole gun a blue color is not meant to prevent responding Officers from shooting you (especiallyif you’re stupid enough to point the guns at them). They are meant to minimize the possibility of your neighbors from calling them in the first place.
i purchased about a year ago a glock replica, last of its kind, glock somehow tm their guns so exact replicas could not be produced for sale as airsoft. the glock replica i have is so exact you could swap out the upper and have a working pistol.
I have a an AEG full size m14, while I don’t use it for training, I do take it outside often to shoot at the neighbors dogs. Yesterday they killed my roommates cat, another one of his cats went missing a few weeks back only days after it was injured by them, and they are always trying to freeload on my dogs food. So I have been unloading on them in full auto lol.
I am not a cat fan, nor is he being responsible with his pets, but they would be dead if they hurt my dog, so they should feel lucky I havn’t done more to them. Those BB’s sure do make them yelp and run with their tail between their legs lol.
Just a caution - know your local laws. In my city an airgun is included in the definition of a firearm, and the discharge of a firearm is illegal within the city limits. So, in my city, but maybe not your’s, it is illegal to shoot airsoft in your own backyard.
Luckily, I live outside the city limits.
I’d almost be willing to get taken in for such a thing though, just because it would prove to me once and for all what a bunch of idiots we have running things lol.
This reminds me of a video I watched awhile back on CNN. They caught some loser that was planning a school shooting. I think these types of people should fry, but none-the-less the media portrayed the individual as having an arsenal of weaponry, when he really just had a big airsoft gun collection and one or two real firearms. They laid all the guns out on a table in front of the speaker for an even stronger effect. So it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if I picked up a paper one day and read about an attempted murder with a fully automatic firearm lol.
Here is the video
