Dry Fire For The Road Warrior

[JFlowers]

Prior to 9/11 I was traveling Software Consultant and now I am going back out on the road full-time. Means more money and Friday's off, but sort of kills the evening practice routine.

So I am looking for suggestions on ways to dry practice regularly while living in Hotel rooms. But it has to take certain things into consideration....

1) Airport Security - I will be passing through the Airport every Sunday and Thursday, travelling with a firearm will not be the easiest solution.

2) Hotel Room - I will typically be in a single hotel room all week, but as you all know they are somewhat limited on space and cleaning services give targets hanging on the wall strange looks.

So, I am open to suggestions!

James

[eric nielsen]

http://www.copsplus.com/ringsblueguns.php

[BigDave]

If you're checking luggage anyway during your travel, doing so with a pistol is not that big of a deal IMO. Locked case, good key'd pad lock and showing up early is all you need. Being friendly and knowlegable about the travel req's puts you in the good graces of the airline desk staff, too.

[JFlowers]

I will only check baggage if I have too. Before I came off the road the first time I had packing down to where my roll-aboard was all I needed.

I do like the blue gun idea though

[Wayne Dobbs]

You better check with TSA, but I don't think they allow the replica guns in carry on luggage. I can guarantee that when the scanning X-ray sees it when you go thru the Security line, there will be "interesting" times....

Wayne

[Middle Man]

Blue guns I've used are just chunks of plastic, no moving parts...great training aids for weapon retention and other movement type training.

Edited April 21, 2006 by Middle Man

[JFD]

The blue gun may be inert, but I'm guessing JFlowers might get tackled/tazed/shot/sprayed everytime his bag gets scanned. Too much excitement for me

[kruger]

If you know which hotel your are going to stay at, you could mail the blue gun to yourself.

I've done this with computer equipment, and it worked well enough.

[kevin c]

Reduced sized targets work for me. I used a couple sizes of the metric. A 1:3 reduced target will fit on a 8.5X11 piece of paper, and mounted on cardboard, it will be durable. 1:3 means ten feet will be the equivalent of 10 yards, size wise (though how your eye refocusses between target and FS will vary from the real thing), with smaller targets representing farther distances. They're easy to prop up around a room, and stow innocuously in a drawer or with work materials otherwise.

[Mistral404]

I have the same issue, well sort of. I generally go one place at a time for a few months. So if I am staying in the same hotel, I can often leave a bag with the gun in it.

I have also rented a storage place.

Now I am going to buy an Air Soft and just check the luggage. It is a hassle checking luggage but it is the only way not to get hassled by TSA.

As for practice. I do reloads, draws and transitions. I use post it notes as targets. I just place them all over the room. I will say my timer is loud. I ended up taping some cotton over the speaker so as not to disturb my neighbors.

[Genghis]

I have noticed that the trigger pull on my WE Airsoft 1911 is significantly different than my P14.45 trigger.

[rpmwfo]

So what is the consensus on this? Is there any value to be gained from using one of the S_I airsoft pistols for dry fire training in the hotel rooms? I too travel for weeks to months on end. When I am home I get a lot of live fire practice, but seems like I lose alot while on the road. I figure I could pack an airsoft in the checked baggage. Then again I don't want to waste time with it if I won't be gaining any benefit from it.