Is a BB gun good for practice?

A good quality airsoft that is a copy of what you carry (assuming they make one) will work in your regular holster, and allow you to practice pretty much anything you want, even in the house. Just watch the old ladys knick knacks, the windows and walls, and dont leave any of the bb's on the floor for her to step on. :)


I made a couple of back stops I use in the basement, and around the house (tends to flip the dogs out though :) ) that will catch the bb's if you miss, or let them drop into a tray at the bottom when you hit center. I made them out of the foam insulation you can get at Lowes. Just cut out where the kill zone on your targets are, and staple an old towel on the back along the edges, leaving the bottom open so the bb's can drop down, and put a box or tray under it to catch the bb's. Pretty cheap and easy to make, easily moved around, and they last forever.

stop on the right is without a target from the front....
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stop on the right is the same one above, but turned around so you can see the back....
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The orange ribbon goes back on the target when I switch back to my "real" gun, just as a visual reminder that things are "hot" again. I find it pays to make a verbal (to myself) as well as visual mental break when you stop and switch guns. That way you dont blast the walls and annoy the dogs even more. They'd probably bite my ass if the gun went off, then Id get a beatin and another chew down when mom found out. Shes got those dogs wrapped around her little finger. Best to play it safe. :D
 
I used to be pretty big into Airsoft.
If you are getting a gas blow back one, get a tokyo marui. They are more expensive but definitely the best you can buy.
I suggest this retailer, I have done business with them multiple times.
http://www.airsoftgi.com/

If you want an electric pistol, the CYMA CM030 is the only one I would buy.
 
This is best for revolvers, as these loads won't cycle a semi-atuo... But this is similar to Capt. Charlie's post above, just cheaper...

I had a .38 Special that I would target practice with in my basement. I'd seat magnum pistol primers in the pocket and melt candle wax blocks in a metal cup in the oven. I'd pour the melted wax up to about 1/3 of the case and I could do about 20-25 of them before I'd have to re-melt the wax.

Once the wax hardens, you hang your target on a piece of plywood above a plastic 'tote' and plink away. The wax "bullets" fall into the tote and you can re-melt them for repeat use.

There's no powder, they're propelled by the energy of the primer only. When the wax hits the target, the residue from the primer makes light marks on the paper so you can see how you're grouping.

Obviously you'll want to clean your revolver well afterwards to get all the wax out of the barrel...
 
I would opt for a pellet rifle / pistol over a bb gun. You can find some excelent inexpensive choices out there. Personally, I have a Chinese B21/22 pellet rifle (based on RWS 48 design) which I prefer over the its RWS counterpart even if they cost the same. I also have a Beeman P1 pistol that I use for indoor target practice, and for shooting snakes. Although, it really takes too many shots with the P1 to kill a snake.
 
I've never considered a BB or pellet gun to really help me in regards to practical handgun practice, but it was a great way for me to introduce my kids to marksmanship training a young age. Also, it's just plain fun to shoot at my own home-made indoor shooting gallery whenever I can't make it out to the range.

I recently purchased one of these for myself, which can crank up some pretty impressive velocities for an airgun.

http://www.firearmsforyou.com/airguns/crosman-.177-caliber-pump-bb-pistol-w/blue-finish/
 
The airsoft guns actually do more for you "reality" wise, than any of the "target" type guns, or even "real" guns simply shot like a target gun on the range for that matter.

You really can practice what needs practiced, and against other people as well, and in real environments and situations.

Bullseye is bullseye, and is really just the basics, which you should already have down anyway. Im not saying there is anything wrong with this type practice, and we all need a tune up now and then, just to confirm, but unless thats all you do, its really not what you should be practicing once you have the basics down.

I think a lot, if not most of the discussions that go on, are based on experience in the "target" realm, as opposed to the "practical" realm.

Im willing to bet that more shooters stand at a bench or table and leisurely shoot at bullseye type targets, basing their skill on the nice little groups they shoot.

As opposed to those who shoot from their holster, worn under their normal street clothes, while trying to get off line as they clear the gun, draw, and shoot, and base their skill on whether or not they get good "hits", even if they arent a small group.

If you have the basics down, its time to move on and expand your horizons. If not, the old duck weed will start to set in and take over. :)
 
The Gunsite class I was at had a pair of younger shooters who could not hit worth a darn.

They invariably got off the first shots when the 8 if us started firing, and invariably their targets looked like a shotgun blast (at best).

Neither could even walk their gun onto an 8 inch disk at 60 yards using multiple magazines.

Speed without accuracy is no better than accuracy without speed.

You cannot miss fast enough to win a gunfight.

Speed will come quickly with practice if the basic accuracy is present.

I thought I was going to lose the class shoot-off to one of the guys.
I could see him reloading in my peripheral vision.

I was doing the mandatory reload for the split pepper popper to win.

It turned out he was reloading because he had yet to hit a single target.
 
Yowee, that guy on the tread mill is great stuff.

Another pellet gun that is good practice, for less than $50, is the Crosman 357 C02 powered revolver, with a rifled barrel.
There's a video review at pyramydair.com.
I have one and use it a lot.
Other than the lack of recoil, it's very much like a .22 revolver.
 
There are lots of pellet (realistic, to scale) pellet, BB and airsoft pistols and revolvers that make great practice weapons. Sites such as airgun depot, pyramid air and others are well worth the time cruising thru.

You can easily have a "range" set up in a hallway, basement, den, garage or carport.

Targets can be made to stop the pellets/ bbs etc., just test it to make sure that the backstop is sufficient to prevent penetration and ricochets.
 
BB guns I'd say no. Although you go through the motions, they are not very accurate and it makes it hard to see how your doing and improving. I think BB's are generally low quality these days and that's a large reason for the poor performance. If you want to practice, spend a little more and get something that shoots pellets and has a rifled barrel. There are some nice CO2 and air pistols out there that shoot pellets and they have much better accuracy over the BB guns. They can also be had in replicas of real firearms (such as the P99, PX4, 92FS, ect) so they feel right in your hand as well. Not as much fun as the real deal but good for practicing when you can't make a lot of noise.
 
The concept of using BB guns or pellet guns for serious training goes back a long ways. The British Army used them for close-quarter training for the jungle (this was before rain forests) in the 1950s. Apparently they used only face protection in the form of fencing masks, so taking a hit would hurt. Also, I believe the US Army used either BB guns or pellet rifles to train soldiers in snap shooting, though that was not something I did.

These days there are realistic non-guns for training. Walther has a couple of models (not cheap), one available only to law enforcement.

Wax bullets used to be popular back in the quick draw days, too.
 
I think that any kind of shooting (given reasonable accuracy) that allows one to pragmatically simulate realistic scenarios--as opposed to just standing upright and blasting away at a typical shooting range--is highly advantageous, even a requirement for anybody who wishes to consider themselves well prepared for defensive handgun use. While practice with the real firearm at the range is certainly critical for learning how to handle defensive shooting (mostly recoil management), I think you'll learn a lot more about how to actually use a gun while practicing at home, even with a BB, pellet, or Airsoft gun; the convenience and extremely low cost of shooting the latter also encourages one to practice more.

I'm currently not that knowledgeable about BB, pellet, and Airsoft guns, so I'll leave specific recommendations to others, but having learned how to cope with recoil at the range to a fair degree by now, these days I mostly train at home with a CO2-powered Airsoft replica of my main defensive handgun. For most people, shooting while on the move and from behind cover--and learning how to maneuver in the first place--are skills that would be difficult or impractical to learn any other way; it is reasonable to expect improvements to one's basic skills, as well, from all of the additional practice.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to go for an airsoft M1911 before getting that first rifle. I'm going to practice a lot with it in order to build good techniques and habits. It's also going to be the basis of the model I will use when I buy a pistol, so I'll have the muscle memory.
 
I'd recommend a pellet gun over a bb gun. BB's aren't especially accurate and being steel, ricochet and conserve their energy. Frankly they're kind of dangerous IMO.

The Umarex replicas that people have mentioned are well made and come as repeaters. They use a cylindrical magazine that you load pellets into.
 
The airsoft "BB's" are 6mm in diameter and made of plastic. Not your normal Red Ryder BB's.

For what they are, they are amazingly accurate, even for informal target shooting with the right guns.
 
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