Red/Blue guns

[mardo]

Does anyone use them to train? Your thoughts?

[27hand]

Does anyone use them to train? Your thoughts?

Yes, I have an inert red training gun that can be used to practice disarms and general gun handling technique. ( I have no Pic of the red gun)

I also have an inert yellow barrel repacement to visually see my glock pistol is not a live firearm.



Frenchy was showing a few new shooters how to safely handle firearms at a group shoot and I lent him the red gun for that demo.

The yellow barrel was about 10 bucks and the red gun was about $25 if i remember correctly.

Good training tool when you have to practice something where the muzzle WILL cover someone.

27hand

[synergy]

Does anyone use them to train? Your thoughts?

What kind of "training"?

I'm willing to bet this is gonna get very heated. The issue of pointing real guns at people, or not, is someone people are very passionate about.

I have the bladetech barrel, and 2 airsoft pistols that function like real guns. Unless I have a specific reason to be using a real gun to train with, these options are easy enough to find and use, and provide a great safety net against screw-ups.

If you own a gun which BladeTech makes a plastic barrel for, I would 100% recommend using that for most "training" purposes....nothing will be cheaper or easier to work with, IMO, and you get to use the same gun, so interaction with it is as true to live use as you can get.

[MarcS]

I've had exerthing from blue guns to airsoft to live firearms using paint marker ammunition pointed at me in training. Safety is relative to the person using it. I wouldn't trust just anyone with a 357 magnum that can accept live ammo trying to shoot me with code eagle paint markers, I would trust just about anyone with a Ring's blue gun.

[TonyF]

Does anyone use them to train? Your thoughts?

Yes. They're great training tools.

[sgt7546]

Blue guns go along way to putting the mind at rest during training.

We use them exclusively for demo purposes. I find, even to this day, that even AFTER I see a real gun being unloaded and passed around to verify the unloaded status, once that real gun is pointed at someone, the little voice inside my head still screams GUN, and the little hairs on the back of my neck still stand up. Speaking with several guys at work, they all seem to have that same reaction. With the blue/red guns all that is eliminated.

[fultonCoShooter]

if you do use a blue or red gun for training check out RRB systems

they are alu castings with a training blue coating they weigh the same a the real weapon

[TonyF]

Blue guns go along way to putting the mind at rest during training.

We use them exclusively for demo purposes. I find, even to this day, that even AFTER I see a real gun being unloaded and passed around to verify the unloaded status, once that real gun is pointed at someone, the little voice inside my head still screams GUN, and the little hairs on the back of my neck still stand up. Speaking with several guys at work, they all seem to have that same reaction. With the blue/red guns all that is eliminated.

Interesting story.

I attended a handgun class some years ago instructed by L.A.P.D. D Platoon / SWAT Metro legend Larry Mudgett. FYI, Larry and his SWAT colleagues have probably shot more people and been in more gunfights than any other LE agency on the planet.

Anyway, someone asked a question that I can't recall but it required him to demonstrate his grip / stance and IIRC, the question had something to do with a PoV from the perspective of the target.

Someone handed him a Blue gun and it was amazing how uncomfortable he was to even point a training gun at human being without cause.

ETA: When I teach our one day handgun class, I use a Blue gun to demo some techniques and emphasize the four safety rules. One thing I do after explaining that the Blue gun is inert is convey the principle to the class that although we use Blue guns in advanced classes with respect to H2H, disarms and retention techniques and as such we're compelled to point them at each other, we DON'T allow ourselves to get in the habit of even pointing a Blue gun at anyone outside of the training environment.

[mardo]

Thanks for the replies. Anyone know of a local (Pittsburgh area) source for these where a civilian can buy, or is this a mail order only thing?

[sgt7546]

Thanks for the replies. Anyone know of a local (Pittsburgh area) source for these where a civilian can buy, or is this a mail order only thing?

North East Police supply, (Smallman Street in the strip) and
Markl Police supply (Perrysville Ave) both sell to civilians.

But on-line prices are much more cost effective.