These past few months, the ole COVID 19 has restricted many of us in our homes with little to nothing to do. With that in mind, we have all been looking to find means to maintain our training standards as well as entertain ourselves. SIG may have offered us a little bit of both with their range of air guns. They make quite a few that resemble their actual firearms.
One such model is the SIG P365 Air Gun. It’s a BB gun, to be specific, that utilizes 12-gram CO2 cartridges. I grabbed one for around 60 bucks along with about 2000 BBs and 15 CO2 capsules. This package seems to be an affordable solution for quarantine training and, in general, just affordable training.
Can a BB Gun be Used for Training?
That’s a good question. It cannot replace regular firearms training and range time. Those are unreplaceable. What the SIG P365 air gun and other similar realistic modeled air guns can do is compliment your training. This particular model replicates the P365 almost identically in controls, sights, and size. You can practice drawing and go beyond dry fire with a CO2 powered BB gun.
It allows you to draw and engage your target and practice proper shot placement. It gives you some recoil and challenges you to track your sights as you shoot. You can purchase multiple magazines, and even practice reloads from your carry gear. Best of all…
It’s fun. A lot more fun than just dry fire practice. With that in mind, you can take something like this and teach new shooters general gun safety and even how an automatic handgun operates. The SIG P365 air gun uses a real magazine release, a real slide lock, and a real safety. You have to rack the slide to load a BB, and the gun operates as a real gun should. While the kids are home from school with nothing to do, you have an excellent opportunity to build a backyard range.
The P365 Air Gun is much less intimidating for new shooters, especially children. All they need to wear is eye protection, as it’s not very loud. They can learn valuable gun safety skills, learn the basics of gun handling, and still mag dump at the end of the day in a safe manner.
All About The SIG P365 Air Gun
I’ve covered quite a bit about why an air gun is cool, but now we can talk about why I’m such a fan of this specific model. The SIG P365 air gun looks and feels like a real P365. The most significant difference that’s noticeable is that the air gun is four ounces lighter.
Other than that, the look, feel, and shape are identical to the P365. Little things are different and worth noting. The sights are not night sights, but they do feature a green, high-visibility front sight. The SIG P365 air gun only comes in a manual safety model as well. The trigger isn’t identical in pull weight or length but is close enough. The recoil is much softer, but still present.
The SIG P365 Air gun is as accurate as any other BB gun. Within 10 to 15 yards, you’ll hit right around where you are aiming. It’s not as precise as a real gun, but it’s accurate enough for training purposes. Range is an issue, but for training within 15 yards, it’s perfectly suitable.
The overall quality seems relatively impressive. SIG did an excellent job with this little air gun. It’s a ton of fun to shoot and is an excellent training companion for P365 owners. Plus, it costs pennies to train with, and some training is better than no training on a Ramen Noodle budget.
What do you do about the BB’s? Do you have targets that trap them, or are the 2,000 BB’s now scattered all over your yard?
A tarpaulin will do.