Training w/limited ammo

[hutsona]

Hi all. I'm new to firearms, and so have many questions related to CC. First, I purchased my first firearm last April and fell in love with the shooting sports. Up until January of this year, you could find me at a shooting range at least every couple of weeks working on pistol marksmanship. Since January, I've gone only once because of... the ammo shortage (so bummed!). So my first question is this: Can I get similar results by practicing often with an air pistol, and limiting my live fire sessions to 50-100 rounds once every 6-8 weeks or so? If yes, what sort of air gun quality should I be looking for, as I don't have one yet? Those things are priced anywhere from $20 to $2,000! Even at today's prices/demand, I can get a lot of ammo for $2,000!

On a related topic, I'm somewhat concerned about folks that do not carry as part of their routine. Many of us are employed in places where concealed carry is prohibited, so of course, we aren't going to take our weapons there. But would we benefit by carrying a non-lethal defensive item, such as a Pepper-blaster, when we aren't permitted to carry a firearm? It seems to me (the newb) that if you don't always carry, you won't always be prepared to defend, if needed. I'd sincerely appreciate your thoughts on the topic... Maybe I'm getting ruffled over nothing.

A

[HKJ]

Airsoft/airgun are a great way to practice drawstroke, movement and shooting, force on force etc. cheap. Dry fire/gun manipulations are cheap. If you have a laser, you can also practice orientation of the barrel on your drawstroke presentation. Some of the CO2 guns at walmart in the $40 range are not bad.

[TSiWRX]

Welcome!

Like HKJ wrote, airsoft/airgun are excellent tools. So is laser-aided practice (either just having a laser-sight on your pistol or with the purchase of a specific laser-aided practice system, including even a dedicated "practice gun" like the NextLevel Training SIRT) as well as good-old dry-fire practice.

Each has its strengths and weaknesses.

A couple of recent threads regarding airsoft replicas and traditional airguns:
- http://www.ohioccwforums.org/viewtopic. ... it=airsoft" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- http://www.ohioccwforums.org/viewtopic. ... it=airsoft" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There's already a lot of good stuff in them, so I won't belabor the point in again picking through the advantages and shortcomings of those.

With lasers, perhaps the biggest pitfall for beginners is setting the "shot" laser at a spot that's not representative of the actual POI. It's fine to set the laser at your POA, so you can visualize hits, but you need to realize that on an actual gun, there may be POA/POI differences. Investment in laser gear can be costly as a one-time, upfront, expense.

With dry-fire, the biggest shortcoming (when speaking in-particular of the striker-fire pistols) is the need to cycle the slide to reset the action.

Unfortunately, I've never used a pneumatic recoil-simulator, so I can't speak with respect to their advantages/disadvantages aside from perhaps some guessing.

Remember that these are all training tools - the same goes for sub-caliber practice (although these days, it's just as hard to find .22LR ) - and each will have their advantages and disadvantages.

[Brian D.]

Unfortunately, I've never used a pneumatic recoil-simulator, so I can't speak with respect to their advantages/disadvantages aside from perhaps some guessing.

A friend had one of those several years ago. It definitely helped him. After playing with it for few days I could see why. Not so much about the recoil simulation as the fact that the air resets your hammer/trigger to dry fire again, shot after shot, no manual racking of the slide or hammer cocking needed. (This gizmo was for a 1911.)

[hutsona]

Thanks so much for the input. I wasn't thinking Airsoft so much as air gun (e.g. brass pellets). We have a very nice pellet rifle that shoots for all the world like our 10/22, except for loading it. It's been great for teaching our 9-yr-old cause it's a single shot. From the links you've given me and your comments, it looks like I should start shopping for a pellet pistol in the $50-$100 range if I really want to practice more in the near future. Oh well... and this, too, shall pass.

[TSiWRX]

^ Ooooh, that's something that I had not thought about. Thanks for pointing that one out.

Of-note, the Lenny Magill videos were the first time I became aware of the self-resetting trigger (training tool) for the Glock

http://www.glockstore.com/trigger-reset-kit-for-glock" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nowadays, the SIRT is probably a more cost-effective alternative.