To what point can air pistol practice supplant range time?

[Matt Sutton]

I am an informal target shooter and small game hunter, and I'm considering the purchase of a quality air pistol for basement/backyard practice. My hope is that it will allow me to advance my skills in trigger control, breathing, stance, and follow through. Logic tells me that if I develop these skills using an air pistol, they will translate directly over to my use of a centerfire pistol. If that turns out to be the case, at what point am I spinning my wheels with the air pistol, and would be better served by spending more time at the range with live ammo?

I've heard from several sources that someone proficient with an air pistol is typically also proficient with a firearm, but not necessarily vise versa. Apparently the relatively long time the pellet spends traveling down the barrel necessitates a very steady hold and excellent follow through.

BTW, the piece I am considering is a Beeman P3.
http://www.beeman.com/p3.htm

Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Joe Mamma]

"I've heard from several sources that someone proficient with an air pistol is typically also proficient with a firearm, but not necessarily vise versa. Apparently the relatively long time the pellet spends traveling down the barrel necessitates a very steady hold and excellent follow through."

Yes, I agree with both statements. But, to add to the second statement, let me say that *spring piston* airguns are VERY sensitive to how *strongly* you hold the gun when you fire them. The piston slamming forward (or backwards) when you fire it causes the gun to move considerably (much more than pneumatic guns in my opinion) when the pellet is still in the barrel. Generally, you want to relax and hold the air gun loosely to get the best accuracy/consistency.

However, the only problem is using an airgun for rapid fire firearm shooting practice. For this type of shooting, you really have to hold the gun tightly which does not work well with a spring piston air pistol. By "rapid fire", I mean trying to save TENTHS of a second between shots, reacting to a buzzer for a quick first shot, etc.


"BTW, the piece I am considering is a Beeman P3.
http://www.beeman.com/p3.htm"

I have no experience with that particular model. But, it is not a spring piston gun so it should be excellent for both slow and very rapid fire practice.

Joe Mamma

 

[James K]

Matt, don't worry about the technicalities. Buy a good air or CO2 gun that you like and is fairly close to you favorite "real" gun, and just enjoy shooting it. Unless you have access to an indoor range, there are plenty of days when you can't shoot anyway, and those days can become fun time in the basement.

Yes, there are differences, but the basics of shooting are the same. As for accuracy, we are not talking about cheap pellet guns here. Any good air/CO2 pellet pistol will shoot one hole groups at basement distance, and most of them have sights equivalent to target pistol sights.

But I do recommend that, if at all possible, you find a store that stocks a couple of brands and try them, rather than buying from the net or a catalog. I will also note that in any practice pistol, lack of recoil is detrimental. (The Army did not care for the old Colt Ace because of its lack of recoil, so Colt developed the floating chamber "Service Model Ace" to have a recoil closer to that of the the .45 service pistol.)

Jim

 

[DAVID JOHNSON]

Matt
I think you are on to something. I purchased a quality Russian Izh air pistol along with a bullet trap to train with. I think the results are well worth the cost. My actual results with my .22 and .45 have improved greatly. It's also fun and at about penny a shot it very cost effective.
As a suggestion do a search on air pistols and you will find a lot of information along with dealer sites. Some dealers have used match grade guns. I would also suggest that you purchase the best gun that you can afford because you might start shooting in some of the local meets around your home and you will have a quality gun to compete with. As I understand it the IZH 46M was used in the Olympics by the Russians several years ago and it runs about 285.00.
Check with Nygords and Plinkerton's.

DJ.

 

[aruid]

Air guns

I have many airguns that I purchased just to see if I would like the "real" version of the gun. I have a Berreta 92 gas blowback (slide cycles), M11 open bolt gas blowback (bolt cylcles), and my favorite a CO2 powered Walther PPK/S the PPK/S has some really nice features and decent kick, but the safety is different from the actual gun and the airgun is not double action.

The CO2 PPK/S is made by Walther and is about $70

ARUID

 

[4V50 Gary]

About 10 years ago, some Japanese guy became some sort of champion. While he never shot a gun before coming to the US, he practiced all the time with an airgun.

 

[444]

I think any shooting you can do which is a challenge will be of benefit to you. I will even go so far as to say that rifle shooting will help your pistol shooting and pistol shooting will help your rifle shooting. I will say that shooting a bullseye match will help your IPSC performance.......................etc.
Why ? Just like a building, your shooting skills start with a foundation. Things like stance, trigger control, sight picture, breathing............... Mastering these is the key to becoming good at any kind of shooting. World Champion shooting is simply the performance of these basics in world champion fashion. Action shooting is these fundamentals with a few additional variations etc. Any shooting that doesn't incorporate these essential fundamentals will do you no good.

 

[629 shooter]

I have heard and read so many shooters advocating dry fire practice so I would say air gun practice takes that one step higher where you are actually firing a projectile as you do in firing a "real" firearm. You will actually know when you are shooting better as you groups/scores/hits become readily apparent. Of course the air guns do not condition you to the blast and recoil of conventional firearms.

It would also be of great benefit to use a reasonably accurate air pitol with good sights and one with a decent trigger. The right air gun can surely be used to improve marksmanship skills - no doubt in my mind.