[grumpy_old_man]

Hi everyone;

With the worst ammo shortage I have ever seen in full swing, I'm thinking of my summer training schedule. I usually burn through 2-3,000 rounds of .22lr per month, and maybe 2-300 rounds of 9x19 in a similar timeframe. As of now it looks like I won't be able to get anywhere near those requirements met, and my stock isn't bad but I don't want to run it down since I can't replace it.

So, I am using an RWS34 pellet rifle to keep sharp there, and am thinking of a good quality pellet pistol to use at something like my old .22lr rates, since for now I'm not having trouble getting pellets and have a pretty decent stock on hand in any event. Drop the .22lr down to centerfire levels and put centerfire practice on hold until things settle down to keep from running out my stockpile.

Suggestions for a good, super durable (have to be the way I use 'em) .22 pellet pistol in the under $400 range?

All the best,
Grumpy

 

[Risasi]

Slide action or revolver?

If revolver you can use rubber bullets or wax loads. Draw from a holster/concealment or just plain old dry fire is also productive. About 10,000 cycles will help build the muscle memory. Then you can stay sharp with much less practice.

I had a buddy buy a Beretta PX4 storm. I've shot one magazine when we first took it out, and then another mag several weeks later. I chewed out left of center on the bullseye at 10 yards at a pace of about 2-3shots per second. Even I was surprised because it was only the second time I shot it. His comment was "you shoot my gun pretty well", and my reply was it felt enough like one of my old 1911's it was easy with the SA trigger he had on it.

My point being I cut my teeth on the 1911 one summer (about 8-10 years ago) shooting a couple bricks a week out of my Kimber .22 kit, and a couple boxes in .45 as follow up. By the end of the year I had found that I had shot nearly 30k rounds of 22 and several thousand more in 45ACP. I bought replacement springs for everything as a Xmas present to myself that year.
It's been about four years since I've even shot a 1911 as I've gone back to DA revolvers, but that muscle memory is still there.

For slide action pistols you might look into a snap cap device made by Laserlyte that fires a bore laser every time you pull the trigger. They are intriguing enough I want to test one, but everything I've read indicates its a useful training device and batteries are much cheaper than ammo right now...

I expect that stocks will catch up in another 2-4 months. Vendors are going to start churning out mags and bullets by the ton. You just got to hold out for a while longer...

 

[Risasi]

Grumpy,

I also remembered a friend telling me about practice devices like these: Airsoft guns - Airsoft gun guide - Airsoft pistols & machine guns - MilSim secondary weapon - Gas

He said they are similar, but not quite the same as the real thing. I guess it would be helpful to know what it is you commonly use and practice with first.

 

[usmc0341]

I would look at an airsoft pistol in your platform IMO. They actually function like a real pistol with the slide cycling, safeties operate, mags drop free and load like the real thing. Make sure you get a green gas powered one though. Mags for pistols typically hold 20 +/- rounds and they also contain the gas to power the gun. A can of green gas is about 10 bucks and you get several thousand rounds out of it and the plastic BB's are cheap.

I bought a 1911 platform one and the weight and everything is pretty darn close to the Kimber Raptor II that I used to have. It fits in the same holster that I use so my draw stroke is the same.

A few other side benefits are.
You can use it inside safely during inclement weather, buy two and you can use them for force on force training, they are quiet, and overall just plain fun.

Granted a downside to these are there is no real hunting value to these as the muzzle velocity usually runs a nominal 300fps

Riasi beat me to it!

 

[grumpy_old_man]

Thanks for the replies guys;

I may end up going to something like the Webley & Scott Ltd. Webley Tempest Centennial. Air guns
for marksmanship. Just not sure how well it will last the way I use 'em. Been lurking the airgun boards and it seems well liked, but I'm not sure the average Briton uses 'em as hard as I do....

Hadn't really thought of softair for marksmanship, but it does make sense to use it for muscle memory training. Not as worried there, since I do dry snap drills and holster drills a few hours a week, but it is a point of concern. Probably pick up one of the Tokyo Marui 1911 clones after the Webley.

This ammo shortage is killing me - I like to put in a lot of practice, about 2,000-3,000 rounds of .22lr per month with pistol and the same with rifle, then a fraction of that with the big expensive centerfire numbers. Just did an inventory of .22lr today, and if I went back on full tilt training on the rimfires I'll burn it all up in about 3 months, max. Whole damn' thing started while I was still laid up for over a month with pneumonia, so now that I'm healthy I can't even get out to the range!

Once I finish paying off my last one of Mikhail K's masterpieces to complete my Warsaw Pact collection (bound to be falling overboard in another of a long line of tragic boating accidents shortly after it shows up!) the Webley and an Airsoft 1911 clone is going to the head of the list.

All the best,
Grumpy

 

[Donnel]

Look on Craigslist for reloading components or .22 ammo sales. run a "want ad" there, too, and maybe in the "pennysaver" local paper? Also, you can use primer powered "wax ammo" in a 1911, you just have to single load it and hand extract it, thats all. best to reduce the size of the "hook" on an old GI extractor, and mark the back end of it, so you remember to remove it when done with wax! Bend this extractor back so that the spring tension is minimal, so that when you slam the slide on a wax rd, you are not breaking your good extractor, or bending/burring the rims of your brass.

Don't reload wax brass as live ammo, without first carefully removing all the paraffin,. 3/4 " thick paraffin slabs, from grocery store, are too thick. you need 1/2" thick slabs. I"ve shot many thousands of such wax .45's over the year,. they will reliably take sparrows to 10 yds, but don't group better than 3" at such a range. I've taken a couple of rabbits with them, at 5-6 ft of range, too. They make a handclap loud noise, and fall to earth after about 50-60 ft of travel. in hot weather, they melt, so keep them in a thermos jug or the frig. In cold weather, the wax is quite hard, will break a lexan Motorcyle fairing! :-(

 

[curt mini14]

i have a tempest now for over 25 years and its still shoots about 600 fps and i shoot the snot out of it.great little practice gun.