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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor:
The “Cost-Effective Practice” article
[by Duane Daiker], like the rest of Vol 5
May/June 2008 CCM, is most excellent!
However, I would like to add to the options
enumerated therein. Specifically,
I have found great value in using gas
blowback AirSoft-type pistols as an aid
in teaching pistol shooting fundamentals
in my Concealed Handgun Permit
classes, and for practice.
Although it is not a substitute for
some real live-fire experience, I perceive
some advantages, especially for
new shooters, to include:
I have found great value
in using gas blowback
AirSoft-type pistols as
an aid in teaching pistol
shooting fundamentals
in my Concealed Handgun
Permit classes, and for
practice.
• Safety. With minimal precautions
(eye protection), if a new or too-casual
shooter fails to follow some gun safety
rule, no one is really endangered. For
presentation-fire-reholster exercises,
an accidental discharge will hurt nothing
more than pride!
• Convenience. There is no need to
travel to a range to practice or to evaluate
new shooters’ sight picture, sight alignment,
hold control, trigger squeeze, and
follow through. Target backstops can be
as simple as a large cardboard box with
a piece of scrap carpeting hung inside.
• Low noise/recoil. The sound of these
toy guns is about the same as shooting
.22 subsonic ammo in a suppressed pistol.
Hearing protection is not necessary,
and a new shooter is unlikely to develop
a flinch. Also, the neighbors are unlikely
to even hear it, much less complain.
• Legality. All AirSoft-type guns sold
legally in the US have a governmentmandated
orange tip on the barrel, and
are classified as toys. Hence they are (as
far as I know) legal to own and use, at
least in your own home, and on your
own property, in every state.
• Economy. Green gas is cheap, propane
is cheaper, 6mm BBs are practically
free, and the backstops I describe
above capture the pellets, which fall to
the bottom of the box and can be reused
if you REALLY want to be frugal.
• Utility. Aside from safety, convenience
and economy, these pistols are
a fun way to work out a flinch, build
strength and endurance (they weight
almost as much as the real thing), and
otherwise improve your skill levels in
the comfort of your own back yard,
basement, or spare room.
In my most recent classes, students
have had excellent results shooting a
Glock 23 replica from Taiwan (about
$100), that uses green gas or propane
to shoot standard 6mm plastic BBs and
auto-cycle the slide. Transition to live
fire at the range was easier, because the
students were already comfortable with
the basics, and knew they could hit a
target.
Keep up the great work!
Dave Knight
Certified Firearms Instructor
Radford, VA
Due to volume received, not all
letters can be answered. Letters may
be edited for space and clarity.
Send your letters to:
Concealed Carry Magazine
Attn: Editor
4466 Hwy P - Suite 204
Jackson, WI 53037
Or email:
editor@usconcealedcarry.com
I just want to say that “Point Shooting
Versus Aimed Fire,” by Gabriel
Suarez [page 46, CCM April 2008] is
an excellent article. He hits the target
dead center on that one.
Bob Orlando
Excellent article on Bill Akins by Mark
Walters [“Mr. Bill Akins and the Akins
Accelerator,” Ordinary Guy column,
May/June ‘08]. He left out one thing:
how can we send a check to Akins to
help him fight?
Clay Stuckey
Contact for Akins’ defense fund is:
John Monroe Trust Account
9640 Coleman Rd.
Roswell, Georgia, 30075
Make checks payable to John Monroe
Trust Account. Please make note on the
check or cover letter that donation is for
William Akins vs United States.
Editor
Corrections:
The news article titled, “Muggers need
to get real jobs in this town!” on page
12 in the April 2008 issue of CCM incorrectly
identified the location of the incident,
which actually took place in Charlotte,
North Carolina. Thanks to reader
Phillip C., who brought the error to our
attention.
K.L. Jamison’s article, “Warriors of the
Working Day” cited John Fortescue as
the source of the title quote. While Fortescue
may have been the first person
to apply that phrase to the American
militia, Will Shakespeare used it first, in
Henry V. Thanks to the multiple readers
who spotted this one.
USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n JULY 2008