More on alternative firearms training tools

Last weekend I wrote about using BB guns as substitutes for firearms for the purposes of basic training.  At the time I said:

You may ask why I don't recommend Airsoft guns, firing a larger plastic pellet, as well as (or instead of) BB guns.  There are two reasons.  First, with some notable exceptions, they generally fire their ammunition at a lower velocity than BB guns, making them less accurate at other than close range, and allowing the wind to deflect them more.  Second, their ammunition doesn't degrade naturally.  Steel BB's can be picked up with a magnet to clean a room, and outside they'll rust until they disintegrate, whereas the small plastic balls used by Airsoft guns can be very hard to find, and will last almost indefinitely.  That adds to pollution of the environment - and firearms enthusiasts have enough negative publicity to cope with, without adding to it by offending environmentalists!  Nevertheless, Airsoft guns are a perfectly viable choice if you prefer them, and if you can get replicas of your favorite 'real' weapons in that format.  They're also safer to use in person-on-person training (the US Army has tried this, as have some law enforcement agencies), as the larger, slower projectiles are much less likely to cause injuries other than bruises.  (I don't recommend you do this:  but if you do, make sure you wear protective clothing, particularly over your eyes and other vulnerable organs and areas.)

Since then I've been reading more about Airsoft guns as training tools.  I've learned that one can, indeed, buy biodegradable pellets for them, so that pollution and/or environmental damage is no longer as much of a concern as with the original hard plastic ammunition.  Furthermore, modern Airsoft guns appear to be designed to produce higher velocities than the earlier examples I tried some years ago, making accuracy less of a problem in crosswinds.  Finally, several training establishments appear to use Airsoft guns in preference to BB guns or other 'substitutes' for their training, and/or sell accessories for such guns.  For example, here's a video about the pop-up Airsoft target systems produced by Tactrainers.

On the basis of this evidence, I'd say even though I haven't used them myself for that purpose, Airsoft guns seem like a perfectly good way to go for low-cost training.  I'm going to stay with my BB handguns for the time being, but I'll buy an Airsoft rifle and/or shotgun this week to test, and report back in due course on my experiences.

Peter