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Most shooters understand the importance of training with their defensive firearms, but rising ammunition costs can make regular live fire practice impractical or impossible. Are high-quality BB guns an effective training solution when it's too expensive to organize a range day?
Supplementing your training regimen with drills using a BB gun replica of your firearm(s) is a cost-effective way to keep your skills sharp during an ammo shortage. A faithfully recreated 1:1 scale electric or gas-operated model can provide several advantages over dry fire practice alone, including:
While not a perfect substitute for live fire, BB guns are excellent tools for safely practicing shooting fundamentals and CQB techniques in the convenience of your own home. This allows you to work on trigger manipulation, movement, drawing from concealment, firing from retention, achieving rapid follow-up shots, and much more without burning through your ammo reserves.
There are thousands of air guns available for purchase in 2024, each with varying quality and features. Look for a model that most closely resembles your firearm in terms of size and feel, but don't worry if you can't find an exact match.
To help you get started, here are some of our most popular BB guns that look and handle like the actual firearms they're based upon.
This C02 blowback BB pistol is modeled after the iconic Beretta 92FS, with one notable difference: the safety lever / selector switch is mounted on the frame instead of on the slide like on the Beretta. Using this lever, the shooter can alternate between more realistic semi-auto or blazing fast full-auto fire for those occasions when you want to let loose and have some fun.
Manufactured by Sig Sauer Airguns, this replica P320 pistol is as authentic as it gets. It features the same controls and ergonomics as the real pistol, making it the perfect training tool to replace your EDC when live fire is out of the question. Plus, the full blowback metal slide cycles with each pull of the trigger for added realism when running drills.
The Glock 17 is one of the most popular handguns in the world, so naturally the folks at Umarex developed a fully licensed replica airsoft pistol with the same great features and a 23-round capacity. And because the manual of arms for all Glock pistols is esentially the same, skills you practice with the G17 will transfer to smaller Glock-style handguns as well.
In addition to handguns, it's also important to train with your defensive carbine. Crosman's Full Auto R1 rifle is an excellent stand-in for any AR-platform rifle or pistol setup that is as practical as it is fun. With mil-spec features and Picatinny handguard, this rifle can be used to replicate your loadout for training purposes and has a blistering 1400-round-per-minute rate of fire for endless fun in the back yard.
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Using BB guns to augment your dry-fire routine is most beneficial when paired with the occasional live fire session. There's no replacement for range time with real firearms to put your skills to the test, plus live fire allows you to assess accuracy while practicing recoil control. That said, BB guns can still be tons of fun on their own - as seen in our full auto BB gun showdown below.
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