Training aids with accurate-feeling action?

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In having seen a handful of beginner classes, and having witnessed a couple dozen beginners' first shorts (and, being I'm now a new trainer), I was thinking that a training aid with an accurate action feel would be a good thing. e.g. a double-action, a single action, and a striker fire.

Does such a thing exist?
(At, obviously, a reasonable price - I 100% don't get why blue guns are like $50)

It seems like the sort of thing one might be able to 3d print, to which one adds a couple of springs: make it not look like a gun at all except the grip and trigger and maybe some feature that gives a sight picture. Any thoughts?

(Hum, found this: NEW BLUE-Trigger Trainer)
 
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Make your own.
Ceracoat a slide and barrel Blue, cut down the firing pin so it's far short of protruding, weld the pin hole in the bolt closed, also weld the barrel. Now it's 100% not able to fire and retains all the parts for a "real" feel.
 
In having seen a handful of beginner classes, and having witnessed a couple dozen beginners' first shorts (and, being I'm now a new trainer), I was thinking that a training aid with an accurate action feel would be a good thing. e.g. a double-action, a single action, and a striker fire.

Does such a thing exist?
(At, obviously, a reasonable price - I 100% don't get why blue guns are like $50)

It seems like the sort of thing one might be able to 3d print, to which one adds a couple of springs: make it not look like a gun at all except the grip and trigger and maybe some feature that gives a sight picture. Any thoughts?

(Hum, found this: NEW BLUE-Trigger Trainer)

Why not get an airsoft gun? I love mine for teaching others basics, and for my own training.

I believe that incorporating dummy rounds into live fire to remove flinch reflex has more value than worrying about realistic triggers though.
 
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I am not sure what problem you are trying to solve, and I say this as an instructor.

Nothing has a more realistic trigger feel than dry firing a real gun. I realize there are some issues about where and when it is safe to handle and dry fire real guns. But usually these issues can be easily resolved in a training context.

In my opinion, dry fire is an important part of practice for first time shooters. And the big value add is getting many repetitions of manipulating the firearm with snap caps, not just working the trigger. This dry fire practice adds repetition of operating the slide, loading and unloading magazines, operating the safeties, and checking the chamber for clear, as well as the feel of the trigger. In many ways, these other operations are more important. I care much more that new shooters know how to check if a gun is clear than if they have a smooth trigger pull. We can work on the trigger later, but a strong familiarity with safety procedures has to come on the first day.

So overall, I want real guns in the new shooters hands, with no ammunition present, pretty early on. This will get everything up to speed, including the trigger pull. When a beginner gets to the firing line for the first time, they should already have some comfort level with everything they need to do.

I have considered that some airsoft guns are realistic enough to be valuable for training, and I am interested to learn more in this area. But so far, I have not put effort in this direction.

But as far as non-gun options which simulate trigger feel, I have not seen the need.
 
These look fun but a few hundred bucks for the kit.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIcregKoar4




I have the coolfire trainer. It's actually pretty decent. Is it worth the money? Depends...

Right now ammo being what it is, this let's you dry fire for USPSA/IDPA in the home. You get the same trigger pull you'd get from live fire. Recoil impulse isn't the same, but its more than airsoft. I'd say it's probably like somewhere just below a light .38 load.

I think it is better for certain dry fire drills. For instance, the 2 reload 2 drill (draw, fire two shots into A zone, reload, fire two more shots) in dry fire is very easy to fool yourself into thinking you're going really fast because you get one true dry fire trigger pull, then just hitting the trigger after that. With coolfire trainer, you get the (mild) recoil impulse, and actual trigger break each time. The slide is moving so you are adjusting to how the sights track back as the slide returns to battery. Keeps you a bit more honest I think.

That said, I also dry fire without it it just as much.

If you've got money to burn and you shoot USPSA/IDPA... it's not a terrible thing. If you don't really compete, it'll likely be a waste of money.
 
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