As we all know by now ammo is outrageously expensive! I definitely am not shooting as much as i would like or should be and dry firing gets old(i know it's necessary) but have any of you all practiced with airsoft? I really want to get one of the gas operated Glock since my EDC is a G19 and my competition gun is a G17. I'm wondering if any of you all do that and if it would be worth buying one?

Airsoft is especially great for team tactics and it is good fun but it can get expensive faster than you would think.

Also, I've seen guys who train with airsoft completely forget about safety because it's "just an airsoft gun bro" so when they go back to their real steel those bad habits carries over.

Understand it isn't a perfect 1:1 but it's the best you're going to get without getting into a real gun fight.

Yea. I can see all that. I'm planning on just starting off with a pistol and doing like draw drills and stuff just shooting in my garage, at least for the time being.

I've got a bunch of air-powered object throwers.  Steel, lead, and plastic projectiles.  If you get stuff that uses the 12 gram CO2 carts, might wanna hit a walmart and stock up on the 40 packs.  Probably going to be the cheapest way to buy them.

Do it.  Get a replica of your carry gun (so that it fits in your holster).

You can run drills most ranges won't let you do in your garage or backyard.

The "Make Ready!" app timer picks up most of my airsoft guns, so you can time yourself.

3 seconds or less Drill is a good one to start with.

I'm interested in this as well. Possibly looking to get a quality airsoft Glock 19 to supplement my dry fire practice at home.

I have a GHK mk18 that I swap the rail out for my setup on my real SBR with IR lasers ect. I utilize two of the same barrel nut for my rail and just swap back and forth to train under NODs without taking everything off/on piece by piece.

I also have a gbb glock 19 I use for  practicing my draw and engaging close quarter targets all inside my house and backyard.

Also a great training aid for the wifey and overall home/self defense tactics.

I use a Cool Fire mixed in once or twice a week dry fire sessions.

Back in the 80s I used to practice with Crossman 38C (N frame .357 copy) and .357 Six (Python copy) drawing and clearing house.  Would shoot small plastic objects in the barracks with .177 pellets.  Took my RWS 34 .177 springer air rifle to Haiti in 95' to shoot objects off the balcony over looking the bay where the Santa Maria sank on Christmas Day 1492.  Shot rats, lizards and tarantulas with it.  5th SFGA Mott Lake CQB compound at Bragg in the 80s even used Crossman BB auto pistols for some training.  Not a new concept.


CD

Can you use the Airsoft without the BBs? I would like to do it as tactical say within my home.

I have shot various pistol matches for a few years, but when a friend took me to an airsoft place it was eye opening to say the least.

I have all the mental safety hesitations from years of shooting at controlled ranges.  I got my ass handed to me.  I found that I hesitated to pull the trigger even as I recognized clear threats. I have recently dropped the price of a real AR on an air powered SBR that is nearly identical to my go to rifle to practice with.  I think anyone that hasn't been a door kicker for a living can benefit from playing a few rounds. I'll still get my ass handed to me because I won't treat it as a game, but that's not why I'm there.  

A few years back I used to ride & race motorcycles.  I learned after a while that 99% of wrecks are avoidable. People crash when the events move faster than their ability to comprehend the situation. They panic & do the wrong thing. Training & experience just raised the bar of what it took to trigger that panic. You learn to think & react faster. I'd venture that most high speed dangerous physical activities humans partake in work similarly.

Yes.  I find it's easiest in Non-blowback guns, but you can tape down the slide-lock for blowback guns.

Ive been a big proponent of training with airsoft for years. Alot of people would scoff at it because "they are just toys", but now alot of accredited trainers are showing their support of it and its catching on. The ammo crisis has helped this along as well. Its great for mechanical memory type training, transitions, reload drills, drawing from concealment, drawing while sitting in your vehicle, clearing your house.  You set up cardboard box targets so they catch the bbs, even have your family members move the boxes so you dont know where they are. They are also great for learning to work with a team.
You dont have to travel to a range so it helps when youre short on time. I run drills 1-3× per week with pistol and rifle.

About the only thing they wont help with is real world accuracy, and recoil control.  They will help you get used to acquiring your sights/sight picture and getting 1st round hits though.

I recently bought a new glock 17 from Umarex/Elite force (best gas blow back you can get now) after my KJC glock 19 finally broke down after more than 20,000 rounds.

Any kind of dryfire/simulated fire when done properly, can be beneficial. Just make sure to train good habits. As someone mentioned, drilling bad habits can be really bad, and it's much harder to retrain once things are committed to muscle memory.

While I have both, I personally prefer laser trainers for home training. You get waaaaay more shots off the batteries cost-wise vs Airsoft BBs (and CO2 or Green Gas cartridges in the guns that use those).

Simple concept to bear in mind:
Shooting fundamentals can be broken down into distinct techniques to practice/drill/train. MOST of these can be trained without firing a single live round, eg.
- fast trigger pull without jerking the firearm
- the draw
- the presentation
- rapid target acquisition
- rapid target transitions

The MAIN thing that requires live ammo is recoil control/mitigation.

Can't believe this video hasn't been posted yet, but it's one of the best examples of how simulation training without live ammo, can help a person be a better shooter. The Japanese kid in the video has tons of Airsoft experience, but had NEVER fired a real firearm before. Once he got used to the recoil and noise, he started shooting better than people I know who've been shooting for decades. (What's even crazier is that Airsoft guns these days replicate firearms enough that he's actually spent hours upon hours training malfunction drills. Watch how rapidly he he reacts and clears a malfunction. Impressive)

As a concealed carrier, think of scenarios where you may be in a position to defend yourself or your family from harm.  In your car, seated at a restaurant table, in line at a store with alot of innocent bystanders.  You can create alot of drills to practice drawing from concealment in awkward positions, etc...  shooting one handed, with support hand, in the dark, etc...

Hello.  I was googling for Airsoft Pistol Training and this discussion came up.  Since it is a year old, I thought I would ask how the Airsoft worked out for you. Pistols are/were my weakness.  I have been using the "Dry Fire Magazine" and working on the psychology.  I now have a Umarex Glock 17, spare mag, 6000 BB' and a spare mag on the way.

I got into airsoft for similar reasons in 2021. I carry a HK P30 and got the VP9 air soft replica. It is also a good excuse and way to get into shape. I just dropped 25 lbs and in better shape than I've been in for the last 5-6 years because of airsoft. Getting ready for a milsim event at Ft Hood in December.

The trigger pull is going to be very different from your real pistol. Recoil is no where near the same. Reloads translate pretty well as does presentation.

I use airsoft as a standard part of my personal training as as a standard part of most of the classes I instruct.  Start with airsoft and dryfire before you burn live ammo.

I appreciate the feedback.  This will be way cheaper than .40 S&W.

Are there Shot Timer apps for android anyone can mention?

Everytime I look at the half dozen welts I have decorating my torso from my last FoF just reinforces how much I don't know about CQB.

FoF is the best training!  It's a real wake up call.  

As Bill Jordan wrote, there is No Second Place Winner in a gunfight

And it helps you not to forget that medical training is also really important and that cover, concealment, and armor has a vital purpose