How does the SIRT training compare to Air Soft?

It should be reiterated that the SIRT Training Pistol came about to fill a training void. Everyone on the NextLevel team has utilized Air Soft in some capacity and we find it to be a good training tool. However, we are limited to where we can shoot Air Soft because the BB's are solid enough to ding up walls (they actually have some terminal ballistic properties), and the percussion is too loud for many environments. It has some additional limitations which the SIRT Pistol seeks to get around. With rapid pistol movement, such as during draws, the green gas tends to get launched through the valve and come out the barrel, most Air Softs do not fit in holsters, they are not very conducive for training magazine changes, it is difficult to change the sights in most models. Managing an Air Soft BB target system can be a pain in the neck, and, most of all, the triggers are not sufficiently adjustable (or adjustable at all unless you are creative) to emulate the trigger idiosyncrasies of your real pistol. We are not trying to disparage the Air Soft with this assessment, but rather we want to be clear about its limitations, just as we are clear about the SIRT Training Pistol’s limitations (it is not a tool to directly train recoil management, tap rack roll, etc.).

Although there is no recoil with Air Soft, there is a slight sight disturbance when the slide reciprocates after firing a shot. With a proper grip, the sight disturbance should be minimal with an Air Soft, and it is not a bad idea to integrate a certain amount of Air Soft training into your regimen as well.