Train Without Ammo – It’s Cheaper!
Many firearm training courses post how much ammunition is required for the course. This gives you an idea of not only how much ammo to bring to the training, but also of what the actual cost of the training will be. Cheap 9mm ammo starts around $0.20 per round in Missouri Walmarts; so a course that requires 348 rounds would cost an additional $70 of what the actual course cost claims to be; and that’s only the minimum amount of ammo required.
There have been plenty of possible solutions to this problem; one of them being to use a different caliber training firearm, mainly .22 caliber. While there are AR-15 and Glock conversion kits you can use to keep your mussle memory intact by using the same weapon, this still eats up precious rounds of ammo, even though it’s at a quarter of the cost.
I’ve heard others say this and I’d just like to iterate that the best training one can get might not even require shooting rounds downrange at all. Situational awareness has not received it’s due share of publicity, even on college campuses! Just look at how many people still jog at night at colleges without a high-power lighting source (100+ lumens) and pepper spray, or a kubaton.
From basic situational awareness comes the next part of training which is real-life situational responses using practice weapons or safety-checked firearms. Given the right instructor, this can be just as much fun as it is a learning experience. There is just as much valuable information to be learned without a handgun in your hand as there is when you’re wasting away your precious hard-earned cash on shredding cardboard targets.
There’s more I’d like to say about this subject, but I’ll save that for possibly another time. Comment below if you agree or disagree about the idea of training without ammo (some of the time, not always).
Comments (4)
I would agree, and I use ‘blue guns’ in my courses all the time for training.
Also, don’t forget about airsoft weapons. They come in all shapes and sizes, can be purchased cheaply, and make great force on force tools to train with.
Great point Jeff, thanks for recommending the airsoft idea. Have you heard of any good mini-paintball guns that work effectivly? – Or is the impact not that great compared to airsoft?
THe only paintball markers that might work, are the 50 caliber markers. Most of those are used in the forest industry, are expensive to buy, and man do they leave a mark.
Paintball however is a good way to develop tactics. The markers are large and clunky, but I do have a few ‘sidearm’ models that hold 10 shots. Problem with those is the CO2 to run them will cost you just about as much as genuine firearms ammunition.
Airsoft guns are cheap, and teh ammo is even cheaper!
I cannot recommend airsoft enough! I’ve been playing it as a hobby for 3 years, and have been in security practice scenarios utilizing airsoft gas blow-back pistols, and I must say, I can hardly think of a more effective and economical solution to fire-less training!
The variety and realism is a huge advantage over dummy weapons, laser tag systems, or paintball.
Just don’t use the new “marker BB’s”…they have destroyed every gun I’ve heard them used in. lol
This site here provides some pretty good information on general airsoft. http://aderonnairsoft.com/AirsoftBasics.html