I Passed By The Skin Of My Teeth -- A Postmortem

Today after lunch, I took out my airsoft pistol, went to the deck and started to trying to figure out why I could shoot pretty well with it and do so lousy on a real world law enforcement range. I think I have found some answers that may be useful to other people who are using airsoft practice to save money on ammo. This is the pattern I shot today. (And I promise I won't post any more Mr./Ms CLEET target pics for a long time.) It is obvious that Mr. CLEET had a bad day.

These are the shots/maneuvers I practiced and they were all done rapid fire.  This is my normal short range practice routine.  At the one yard line, using the non-gun hand to either deflect the weapon or strike the attacker with the heel of your palm at the bridge of the nose, do an an un-aimed one hand grip double tap to the chest/heart kill zone.  At the three to five yard line, do a two hand grip double tap to the chest/heart kill zone.  At the five to seven yard line, do a two hand grip double tap to the chest/heart kill zone or a single shot to the head.  In the past, I had aimed this shot at the center of the forehead.  After this weekend's instruction I am now aiming at the nose because that disconnects the brain from the brain stem and kills without the possibility of the attacker getting a shot off in his death throes.

So, what was I doing wrong when I played with the big boys.  First, the airsoft does not require nearly as

The upper is Airsoft Glock copy.  The bottom is a real Glock.
The feel is pretty close to the same.  If you saw the orange
barrel tip off of the Airsoft, it will draw pretty well like a Glock.
After that, the similarities cease.

much safety management.  I was very self conscious about being range safe with my weapon this weekend and playing by the range rules.  I did not have the smooth confidence with my weapon that I should have. That may have slowed me down some but it was time well spent because it will make me a better, safer shooter.

Second, the airsoft does not have recoil or slide movement.  Once on target, it stays on target unless you move it.  The recoil of a .40 caliber, while not intense, does induce movement of the hand.  Also, with an airsoft you can get bad grip habits.  In the close in shots with an airsoft, you don't have to worry about the slide hitting you in the belly.  With the two hand shots on an airsoft, you don't have to worry about hitting your thumb with the slide.

So, what is an airsoft good for? Learning basic marksmanship kills and gun handling.  What is it not good for?  Putting the fine touches on shooting in the real world.  The airsoft does not require  you to deal with recoil, trigger staging or slide movement.  It also does not require you to deal with muzzle blast and the big boom.  Bottom line, in my opinion, airsoft practice is worth the time but at some point you have to put in the time with the real deal.

So, what did I do wrong? I should have practiced more with a real weapon.  And, I should have practiced more at the fifteen and twenty five yard lines at the range.  I should have handled that particular weapon more around an instructor until I was comfortable with it.  And, I should have hired an instructor early on to break me of my bad shooting habits.