People own handguns of all shapes and sizes. Some take their ownership very seriously, others never actually test fire them even one time after the initial purchase.
There’s a huge responsibility that goes along with firearm ownership, one that should be taken seriously. If you own a gun, you need to know how to use a gun, and use it proficiently.
In our hustle and bustle lives, we have several things that stand in the way of gaining and maintaining handgun proficiency. The first is going to be time. It takes time to become proficient in any skill set. With firearms, it takes time in the proper environment, which is often far away from your home, further increasing the time requirement.
The next obstacle that stands in the way of proper handgun training is cost. Not only are handguns expensive, but the ammunition is becoming harder to find and more and more expensive to purchase. A typical box of 9 mm ammunition is running about $30 for 50 rounds. The same $30 can purchase approximately 1000 or more quality airgun pellets.
The last obstacle we will look at in this article, is what I’ll call the “fear factor.” Most people that are unfamiliar with hanguns, don’t gain the proficiency they need because they’re just simply afraid of them. Handguns are loud, powerful, heavy, weapons that can be very intimidating to a new shooter. When you can provide a safe environment and reduce the fear factor, than you have overcome a major obstacle standing in the way of firearm proficiency.
So we have three basic obstacles that were looking at in this article. The first is time; the second is cost; and the third is the fear factor. Air powered Handguns overcome all three.
Let’s first look at time – Because most airgun replicas can be shot safely indoors with the proper equipment, there’s no need to travel to a shooting range to practice. All you need is about 15 feet and a proper trap for either the BBs or pellets depending on the airgun replica of your choice. If you don’t feel comfortable shooting indoors, you can always use the backyard, provided that there are no ordinances in your local municipality preventing discharging an airgun on your property. Many people set up impromptu ranges in their garage to have a safe place to shoot while not bothering the neighbors.
Next we’ll address cost – When looking at the cost of ammunition these days is easy to see why airguns are becoming more and more popular. With the savings on ammunition around 20 to 1, it just makes sense to shoot airguns for practice and training. Even if you have to purchase CO2, it’s still very cost-effective. There are many different varieties of quality handgun replica airguns on the market today. There are offerings from Walther, Beretta, Smith & Wesson, Dan Wesson, Sig, H&K, and the list just keeps going on and on. Some of the models have similar workings such as blowback and matching capacity magazines that add to the realism for training. Almost any quality handgun replica airgun will deliver appropriate combat accuracy for training purposes.
So how do we conquer the final obstacle: fear? – The “fear factor” is really important to deal with. If someone is afraid to shoot then they will never practice. If you never practice than what is the point of owning a handgun? Because airguns don’t have the noise or recoil that a standard handgun produces it allows the new shooter to become familiar with the feel and function of the weapon without having to overcome the noise and violent recoil often accompanied by most handguns. Once basic proficiency is learned than the new shooter can graduate to moderately powered firearms, working their way up to whatever level they choose to achieve. The muscle memory and sight picture proficiency that they will gain by practicing and training regularly with an airgun will directly transfer to their handgun when they make that switch.
New handgun owners aren’t the only ones that have realized the benefit of training with airguns. Police departments, SWAT teams, even the military train with various types of airguns. It’s safer, more cost-effective, and delivers measurable results when the time counts. If you’re going to own a handgun for home defense, or personal defense, then you owe it to yourself to gain and maintain proficiency with your firearm. Airguns are a great way for you to become not only comfortable with your handgun, but also proficient under pressure, when it really counts.
To learn more about which airgun would be right for you, simply visit our University or give one of our airgun consultants a call and we will be happy to help you pick the right airgun for you.
