Airsoft for pistol practice?

[vintagedude88]

Well the hoarders have driven prices up on all kinds of ammo even 22lr. So would airsoft be a good substitute for practice?

I watched Keith Garcia on 3 Gun Nation talk about how he uses airsoft to practice in his garage. He says it costs him $20/5000 pellets. I'm not short on ammo, have plenty but at the rate its going right now I'm not sure if I want to waste any on practice.

I have a problem with flinching. At first my shots were low to the left. Now its just low. Would practicing with airsoft help?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAMl22UihQ4

[ChaneRZ]

1911 airsoft

[fmunk]

Don't give the hoarders any ideas. Next thing you know there's a frenzy on airsoft.

[Sputnik]

Or an airsoft ban...for the children.


Or has that already started? SB 798

[fmunk]

No kidding. What about those nail guns you can buy at Home Depot and Lowes? Belt-fed, high cap and all. Where's the talk on background checks for those?

[Tiberius]

Nail guns?

What about HAMMERS? They kill more people every than . . . (wait for it) . . . rifles. Including the dreaded AR-15.

[fmunk]

Well the nail gun is closer to a firearm than a hammer. Some actually use 22LR caps for ignition.

[9mmepiphany]

I have a problem with flinching. At first my shots were low to the left. Now its just low. Would practicing with airsoft help?

You're squeezing your whole hand as you press the trigger

You can use airsoft for a lot of things like force on force and gun handling, but the trigger pull won't be very much like your real gun and you might start developing some bad habits.

You're best bet in improving your shooting...the major part of which is trigger press...is to learn how to manage the trigger press correctly and than Dry Fire the technique

[INFAMOUS762X39]

You're squeezing your whole hand as you press the trigger

You can use airsoft for a lot of things like force on force and gun handling, but the trigger pull won't be very much like your real gun and you might start developing some bad habits.

You're best bet in improving your shooting...the major part of which is trigger press...is to learn how to manage the trigger press correctly and than Dry Fire the technique

+1.

Well the hoarders have driven prices up on all kinds of ammo even 22lr. So would airsoft be a good substitute for practice?

I watched Keith Garcia on 3 Gun Nation talk about how he uses airsoft to practice in his garage. He says it costs him $20/5000 pellets. I'm not short on ammo, have plenty but at the rate its going right now I'm not sure if I want to waste any on practice.

I have a problem with flinching. At first my shots were low to the left. Now its just low. Would practicing with airsoft help?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAMl22UihQ4

In my opinion if your going to get a Airsoft pistol, get a KWA. They are a quality company that makes fantastic replicas. KWA is officially licensed with HK etc..with tons of other models to pick. There is a Tactical Training Facility for Military and LEO right behind my workplace that buy and uses KWA pistols for training and they love it.

As a Pro Paintball Gun Tech, I get to check out the newest toys since we sell Paintball/Airsoft/Skate/BMX/Snowboards at our warehouse.

I got to play around with the new KWA HK45 pistol and the new Kriss Vector Today. I was impressed by the HK45 Grip/Ergo, I want the real one now.

Keep in mind:
You will need to buy Green Gas, (14$+/-) a Can.
Magazines cost more then the real Mags depending, (40-55$) each.
Pistol itself 165$+

Airsoft is not for me though, to me they just look and feel great. I personally rather put the money into Gas/Ammo or Another Handgun. Plus I paintball on the side as another hobby

[AfisBoy]

I use airsoft all the time for 3gun practice, well, for two of the guns (rifle and pistol). Gas blow back is the way to go.

[unusedusername]

Airsoft is OK for pistol practice, I have no tried for rifles.

Here are the differences:
1) Airsoft is not exactly the same outer diameter as the real thing, so an airsoft (KWA) P226 is super tight in my blade tech kydex holster.
2) The springs are too weak. Both the trigger pull and the slide spring are much weaker then a real gun.
3) The trigger "feel" is crap. My Sig airsoft trigger feels like a sponge, whereas the real thing has two distinct stages.
4) You can't drop airsoft magazines on the floor without breaking them.

The trigger reset does work correctly though, and the other controls are similar.

If you are looking to practice stance or grip mucsle memory then airsoft is great. Its "ok" for trigger control, but not great.

For practicing magazine changes, airsoft is practically useless.

[hermosabeach]

Airsoft has a place as long as you remember that practice makes PERMANENT!!!

To practice:
Drawing from your holster and pick up the front sight as you push to the target.
Pressing a shot with hard focus on sights ( white BBs help people watch the target and to walk shots into the target - black BBs are harder to see)
Dynamic movement while drawing to target

As the gun has no recoil, it does not replace dry practice with your firearm and range practice with your firearm

The bio degradeable BBs take a long time to melt away but are worth the extra money

[phamkl]

Airsoft works for some things, and not for others. As others have said, where airsoft is really applicable is in stuff like competition drills. The fundamentals of putting rounds on targets is exactly the same, except with less recoil. Same concept as using a .22lr conversion for practice, except you really can just blast about in your garage. Just be sure to wear eye pro.

What airsoft won't help you with is follow-through. Not that airsoft triggers are that bad, it's just they have a different feel typically. My KWA M9 has a lighter pull in double action than my M&P. Also, airsoft can hurt you in manipulation drills because everything is a lot lighter. For instance, practicing reloading with that M9 and racking the slide to send her home, I ended up not pulling my slide hard enough for the M&P and I presented to the paper target with my slide still locked back.

That having been said, you can practice everything short of firing with the firearm but you can plink your airsoft for days. That alone is worth getting one. There are also metal BB and pellet replicas but typically they'll have even less in common with the firearm than airsoft.

tl;dr - "training" must be done mostly with your firearm, but airsoft can help with shooting drills and are just plain fun.

[Striker]

Well the hoarders have driven prices up on all kinds of ammo even 22lr. So would airsoft be a good substitute for practice?

I watched Keith Garcia on 3 Gun Nation talk about how he uses airsoft to practice in his garage. He says it costs him $20/5000 pellets. I'm not short on ammo, have plenty but at the rate its going right now I'm not sure if I want to waste any on practice.

I have a problem with flinching. At first my shots were low to the left. Now its just low. Would practicing with airsoft help?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAMl22UihQ4

The video is good. I agree, I think today a decent airsoft gun and or a SIRT pistol, a .22 conversion or pistol and dry fire to supplement your live fire is essential to being a good shooter. I said decent airsoft gun because they're all over the board quality wise. And trigger is a big issue on them. A 1 or 2lb mushy, toy trigger really doesn't do you any good. I have a USP CO2 airsoft gun with a trigger that's more difficult to manipulate than either my Glock or Sig trigger, which to me is good. But I did make the mistake of dropping a mag once and it never functioned again.

Regarding flinching, what gun are you shooting? Does this happen with every pistol you shoot? At what distance does this occur?

Also, try LAV's dime drill. Dry fire with a dime on the front sight. It's an excellent drill to test and develop your trigger manipulation skills. The task is simple, pull the trigger without the dime falling off the the front sight.

I do recommend that you take a good pistol shooting class with a reputable instructor. It's worth the money.

[oddjob]

Yes.

There are many shooters from restricted countries that practice with Air Soft type handguns and do very well with the "real deal" here in the states. The shooters from Japan that shoot the Steel Challenge come to mind.

For flinching I would think it would be perfect.