Shooting simulators

[5ontarget]

I got interested in some shooting simulators when I saw a "home" system at a gun show recently.


This was the system I saw. www.ducatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=118&products_id=2733

runs $2000-3000, and you have replica guns to use.

This got me thinking about simulators that utilize your own guns.

So far the most promising system I've found is by Beamhit. 63.134.199.135/m/_general/catalog2005.asp

They have several different varieties, in several different price ranges. The cheapest is ~ $200 the most expensive is about $350,000.
As you move up in price, you obviously get more. The base model is basically a bullseye target, next is a video simulator, and moving on up to multiple targets, multiple projectors, to a whole 'Mini campus".
The advatage of this system is the ability to use your own gun. The downside is for those that shoot in SA, especially SA striker fired guns. From what I can tell you'd have to at least partially manually cycle the slide to reset the firing system, and those with a hammer will need to be manualy cocked.

["DoubleAction"]

5ontarget; Keep any eye on the shooting games and light guns for XBOX. For less than $100, you can acquire a multi game disc, with scenarios, various shooting galleries, and light guns with built in recoil simulators. There is one light pistol modeled from the Beretta 92. I purchased my light gun program to entertain me during recovery of my back surgery.

[TMan]

I had looked at the Beamhit system before and found it to be quite attractive. I think it is the vibration of the falling hammer that causes the laser to fire. So, by using it, you would get very used to the trigger pull on the particular gun you were using before you were going to the range.

The reason I didn't buy it is because I felt that it might cause me to flinch more at the range. At home with the laser there wouldn't be any noise, nor would there be any recoil. Then you take the same gun to the range and your sub-conscious says: whoa!!!

[Fobos]

I ran through a simulator at the Marine Corps Reserve Base outside Salt Lake City about 8 years ago, and I had a freakin blast. The simulated M-16's, M203's, and M249 SAW's were hooked up to a compressed gas system which created realistic recoil and report.

The only issue I had with it was that the scenario played out in a movie format, rather than an interactive one. Therfore, you could empty an entire clip into a target's head (and the computer would count them as head shots) without the target showing any signs of being hit. The shooter would have to engage multiple targets without knowing for sure if he had neutralized previous targets.

Very fun though... I'd love a setup like that in my basement.