Paintball Gun as a Tactical Training Tool...

[Eghad]

We got to shoot the pepperball guns in the police tactics class that I was in.
They showed us a training film the dept made and some other demonstrations...

One of the deputies volunteered to be the victim in a demonstration film we watched. He was a big fellow.... he went down to the pepperball gun. he forgot that the signal to stop was to fall to the ground after he got hit with the first one..so they kept pouring it on..he had his hands out saying stop. He did remeber and fall to the ground tho. He had big blood welts where those balls hit him so they had to hurt also. The big advantage is the range vs the range of spray. Plus if someone is hiding behind a corner you can shoot at the ground near the corner. Or in between two buildings..... beats the heck outta the spray. I got a small whiff of the pepperdust..hehe that was pretty wicked stuff even at less than full strength.

 

[S.E.R.T.SGT]

One of the things we are looking for is obvious "hits". With the paintballs, you can see where you hit the individual. Is this possible with the airguns?

 

[Kabniel]

www.airsoftretreat.com
www.airsoftplayers.com
www.redwolfairsoft.com
www.arniesairsoft.co.uk

it is possible, however not advisable. There are paintballs which will fit, but they jam easily and burst inside the gun/mechboxes. This can be hell on earth to clean out and sometimes ruins guns. When you actually hit someone, you'll know. You can usually see the pellet bounce off the person.


for info, articles, priceranges, options, etc...
As people said, these fit in tac gear made for actual firearms. Alot of people use Blackhawk gear for example. Guns can be upgraded, most stop at 500fps depending on electric,gas,spring propulsion. Metals parts are avaliable for pretty much everything. If you can name an actual firearm, they make an airsoft version. Just depends on who you find to make it for you if its a custom job.

(i've only made 2 posts, and they both pretain to airsoft...i feel kinda sad about that. i swear i'm more useful than this)

and most importantly, always ALWAYS use full seal eye protection when using these things. And observe safety distances if possible. Getting hit in the face with a gun shootin 400fps from 10ft away on full auto leaves more scars than you think.

 

[smince]

We use paintball pretty regularly for training. However, there are some significant negatives.

No one currently makes a semi-auto sidearm of duty size. The closest is probably the Armotech G1/G2, and it is closer to the HK MK23 Spec. Ops. pistol. While it is possible to make long shots, the "dodging" effect comes into play. For realistic training, under 30 yds and near the max 300fps needs to be used. This will hurt, however. ALWAYS WEAR APPROVED EYE/FACE PROTECTION!!!!

We have found it best for urban rifle/smg training. Above mentioned Armotech (www.tacticalmarkers.com) make M16 copies that are very close to the real thing. www.t16.com makes an M16/203 that the CO2 tank is fitted inside the grenade launcher to present a more realistic looking package. www.tippmann.com has the A5 which is a close copy the HK MP5 and can be made to look even more authentic. Check out www.specialopspaintball.com for some real looking(though expensive) markers.

As far as capacity, hoppers are available in 30-45 round sizes, not just the 200-300 round tournament size. We practice with either the small hoppers or with the 12gram co2 cartridges to simulate having to do a reload. While the mechanics are different, you do get the feel of what it would be like running dry in the middle of a firefight.

Not a perfect solution, but with a little imagination and the right gear effective training can be done with paintball, and you might even have some fun, too.