air pistols for practice

K

ks_wayward_son

New member
Hey everyone. I am interested in picking up a air pistol shooting pellets/bb's for fundamentals and fun. I want to focus on the repeating guns not single-shots, and am not really interested in airsoft at all. I have had an airsoft gun, but want something with a bit more punch. Additionally, it would be great if the pistol had a blowback feature to simulate some form of "recoil". I did an overall search of TFL and most resulted in a combination of airsoft and/or air guns. I have heard good things about Gamo...so maybe was thinking the Pt-85 or P-25 series. The blowback would be a good feature, but I have read reviews on the M&P air pistol that generates up to 480 fps or thereabouts that does not have blowback. Basically, what it boils down to is I am looking for a "realistic" practice gun that simulates true firearm models out there. Thanks for any ideas.
 
Your best bet would be to skip air guns and move to a .22LR pistol or rifle. You'll get more recoil, but tame enough to teach you the fundamentals, and shooting with a .22LR is extremely inexpensive. Also, plenty of .22LR pistols and rifles can be had for almost no money. I see a lot of used .22LR pistols selling for around $150, and a new one can be had for as little as $250 or so. Good rifles in .22LR can be had for as low as $120 new. A brick of .22LR is only $18 and you can shoot all day with that amount of ammo.
 
There are some good bb guns in CO2 - I have a M&P and a Walther PPk....they feel the same but that is about it. Triggers are nothing like the real ones. The M&P is very light, crummy trigger. The Walther feels real good - pot metal so it is heavy.

Still - I would rather have a .22 conversion for my pistol than rely on a BB gun for practice.

I have a .22 conversion for my Sig 229. You can do the same for Glocks, 1911s, the CZ. Yep - that is the way to go....
 
air pistols for practice
Click to expand...

Are we talking indoors? or outdoors?

I have a replica 1911 airsoft that I have shot indoors but, grew quickly
tired of it.

I agree with the poster above for cheap practice nothing beats the
.22lr.
 
Some of the 3 Gun guys use air pistols to refine their speed skills... quick target acquisition and such. It looks to be a good cheap way to build that muscle memory and sight acquisition skills...
Good luck!:)
 
Thanks for the heads up about .22s...I do have a single six, but was thinking of something a little more "town friendly", something indoors/outdoors. Guess I shoulda specified...my bad. :P
 
I have a Steyr LP50 that I shoot in my basement as a way to practice my bullseye competition skills, and it's been a great help, particularly in the sustained fire stages. It's a lot of fun to shoot in it's own right, and if it only could simulate the recoil of a .22 LR it would be the perfect training tool. It's a truly beautiful piece of machinery, but by the time you get done adding a dot sight, some spare magazines, a SCUBA tank for charging the cylinders, and a few other odds and ends the investment is about $3K.
 
I wouldn't bother with an AP that has a blowback feature. It consumes a lot of gas, which means fewer shots per cartridge. And it also puts additional wear on a pistol that's likely made of zinc or plastic. Check out the review on pyramidair.com to get an idea of what to expect.
 
I grew up shooting lots of airguns - rifles and pistols - and thought I was a pretty good shot. Shooting a real handgun is a completely different ballgame as I found out. To shoot one well is sort of like taming a wild beast - challenging but fun, and does take practice. Nothing an airgun does will ready you for shooting a real handgun with the true sound and recoil that entails, except maybe learning to use the sights properly. Airguns are good for shooting things for fun at home (where most people can't use a real firearm) but in the end are no substitute. If what you want is practice for using a real gun, start with a .22. There are lots of good .22 semiautos if that's what you want (Walther PK22 for example) and the ammo is cheap. All you need is a good place to shoot it. Also, a real gun is far better for instilling good handgun safety which is just as important as shooting the thing well.
 
22 LR, I'd say. I like the Ruger series... The AWC Amphibian, a version of the Ruger Mk. II, is integrally suppressed and wonderful for practice.
 
My brother-in-law shoots a lot of IDPA and got a CO2 powered BB pistol that looks/feels just like a S&W M&P 9mm. He swears that practicing with it in his back yard has helped a great deal.

One particular exercise he mentioned was shooting while moving at a diagonal to the target. Not sure it would help everyone, but I for one will take all the practice I can get.
 
to refine their speed skills... quick target acquisition and such...
Click to expand...

+1

In order to shoot fast, you've got to SEE fast, and the airsoft/c02 guns can certainly help achieve this, in a wider variety of areas, and at a much lower expense.

Good SUPPLEMENTS to live fire training.
 
I think if you look closely at expense-vs-effect on your skill level, an decent air pistol is a great training aid. Back when I was shooting action shooting matches I would try to get in one or two sessions of air pistol shooting per week to brush up on my front sight focus.

My suggestion is a Daisy 717 pellet pistol. It's very quiet- an apartment dweller could easily shoot in their living room unnoticed. It's a recoilless pneumatic, which means you can dry fire it with no ill effects.

I used to have a cigar humidor packed with about 4" of modeling clay, and I could shoot airguns up to about 1000 fps into it. A tin of 500 pellets goes a long way- try to limit your sessions to less than 1/2 hour, and really focus on accuracy. Cheap, fun, and effective.
 
I used to use a Craossman top break Co2 gun for indoot practice. It was modeled after the Colt Python. Don't know if they still make thim. It worked very well. Remember, they are not designed to last forever. It wore out in about a year.
 
They are an important part of my training

I use them in my home with a pellet trap.

I have to practice all the fundamentals of breathing, trigger control, sight alignment...

And if I am not applying my skills in any of those areas - I get immediate feedback on it with a hole that appears somewhere outside of the bullseye.

In order to shoot my .22, I have to drive 30 minutes to a range, pay $19.95 and breath in gunsmoke for as long as I'm there.

The training is a valid component of my overall training just like dry-firing and exercising.
 
+1 on what C0untZer0 said... This has been my experience too.

I have the C02 type (M&P)... I feel it has helped my overall proficiency.
I especially like the fact that I can practice in various positions... kneeling, prone, "spinning" and firing, quick-draw, one-handed, etc... All of which are prohibited at most ranges. I sometimes use a laser on mine.

I don't feel that the lack of recoil is a big problem... (Anticipating recoil isn't a good habit to get into anyhow). I feel that the BB skills definitely carry over to my regular handgun skills.
 
This is what I practice with for realistic feel and trigger time with...

From the standpoint of modern replica BB and pellet pistols, I have never shot anything more accurate than the Sig Sauer SP2022. While the mass of the gun itself is plastic, the dimensions are nearly 100% the same size and feel, and the magazine that holds the BB's and 12 grm Co2 is very heavy well built metal.

While designed for steel BBs, I use .177 lead balls (for indoor use with a pellet/bullet trap) and have to measure them individually so a large sized one does not create a malfunction in the loading mechanism.

In any case, the accuracy is the same with steel BB's when shot outdoors. Take a look at the pics and see for yourself. I was shooting indoors, at 25 - 29 feet, honestly. Measured out from the front of the pistol and front of target, that's the farthest I can go corner to corner in my basement.

This gun is outstandingly accurate, and the trigger is approximately the same poundage as my real SP2022 and SP2009, so short of the recoil, I get some nice, inexpensive practice time in.

The bottom target was mostly slow fire at both 25/29' with a few double taps, the top target was again slow fire and very fast, but even still the group size is very accurate for a BB gun at that range and firing speed. I seriously love this BB pistol, and as stated can't say enough about the accuracy and so far reliability.

sig177_2022_408.jpg


sig177trgt411.jpg


Here's the indoor trap I use. Made for lead only. Steel BB's will fly out of it.

bltbox328.jpg


"
 
I used to have a cigar humidor packed with about 4" of modeling clay,
Click to expand...

An inexpensive alternative is duct seal / putty. It comes in blocks that are easy to stack in a box, and it's stickier than most clay, so you can mold it to the surfaces and it won't collapse over time.

I'm wary of steel bb's because they don't deform and so conserve a lot of their energy. The lead bb's that viper mentions are a better alternative IMO, if your gun will feed them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top