Now You Can Do
Real World Training
WITH RECOIL
At Home
For As Little As 8c Per Round
Whether you use paintballs, powder balls, rubber balls, or dry fire with recoil
now you can do high speed training at home for pennies per rep
Here's what's up...
A couple of years back, Umarex started a training division called "Training for Engagement" (T4E) to build smaller-than-normal paintball guns (called "markers") that are the exact dimensions as real carry pistols.
Normal paintballs are .68" and too big to make training guns that are the correct size & weight. T4E markers shoot a wide variety of .43 projectiles at up to 325 fps, including paintballs, powder balls, rubber balls, hard nylon balls, PVC coated metal balls, aluminum balls, and even pepper balls.
They have about 3x more recoil than airsoft, cost a fraction of the price of traditional man-marker rounds, and let you do a ton of high quality training at home.
In other words, they're not toys...they can cause serious injury or potentially death if misused. In fact homeowners around the globe who live in non-permissive environments are buying them for home-defense.
With the cost and limitations of training at ranges, these training pistols have been selling like hotcakes.
In fact, they're often sold out.
Combine that with record numbers of people buying them for home defense in areas where firearms are next to impossible to obtain legally, and people have been using them for varmints and animals terrorizing their gardens. It adds up to a major shortage.
Here's the situation...prices have shot up on these (like everything else). As much as $150 per gun!
But SHOT Show is coming up from the 16th to the 20th (Monday-Friday) and I'm combining my pricing deals with a SHOT Show special and I'm going to be able to keep the old pricing for anyone who orders a Smith & Wesson M&P this weekend! (Extended to Monday)
(I've found the M&P is close enough to the Glock to have the practice I do with the M&P carries over to the Glock.)
We're pairing them with some of our most powerful training and time is short. You HAVE to get your order in fast...before I meet with Troy at SHOT...to take advantage of the savings.
Train one of 3 ways using the T4E
The resetting trigger means that you can do multiple shot dry fire with or without racking the slide between reps. Practice your draw & presentation, reading your sights, reloads, and any skill you’d practice with traditional dry fire.
Since it’s not your real firearm loaded with live ammo, you can simply secure your real firearm and get training with the T4E…without the hassle and safety concerns of unloading and reloading.
Use it alone, with a MantisX, or with muzzle or rail mounted laser inserts.
For those who think that dry fire must have recoil, you’re covered! Stick in a 12g CO2 cartridge and you can practice tracking your sights, developing the grip necessary to bring your sights back into automatic alignment, and/or reacquiring your sight picture. Recoil is much less than live fire, but about 3x more than airsoft.
Use it alone, with the MantisX, or with a rail mounted laser.
Always remove pets from the area and make sure everyone in the area is wearing eye protection.
The T4E lets you shoot paintballs, powder balls, or REUSABLE rubber balls, nylon balls, or PVC coated steel balls that are .43 in diameter. Shoot paper or cardboard targets, splatter targets, cans, plastic bottles, or targets designed for bb’s, pellets, and even most .22 targets!
Train in your garage or anywhere you can safely and legally train with a bb or pellet gun. Always use an appropriate backstop, make sure pets are put away and everyone in the area has eye safety gear on.
Glocks shown in picture...M&Ps work the same.
Check out the video below to see Flash Reflex shooting with the T4E as well as shooting the Dot Torture Drill with the T4E with a setup that lets you capture and reuse the rubber balls again and again. (This drives the cost of training down even more!)
You're getting a dedicated training platform, spare mag, 1100 rounds of ammo, AND training for less than the cost of a case of live ammo.
It's an amazing deal for amazing times.
The only other things you'll need are safety glasses and CO2 cartridges, which you can easily get locally or online.
Why Is A Dedicated Training Gun Important?
3 HUGE reasons...
First, the easier it is to train, the more you'll do it. With a real pistol, you must secure it when you're not using it...even if it's unloaded. Check your local laws, but in most locations, paintball markers, airsoft, and other non-guns don't need to be secured.
This means you can pick it up and do 5-10 high quality reps in a minute or two and put it back down without having to commit to several minutes of setup and tear-down.
Second, the safer it is to train, the better. We do everything we can to tip the scales in your favor to make at-home training as safe as possible. Particularly for less experienced shooters, there is a very real risk in manipulating a real firearm with live ammo. Specifically unloading and loading and THINKING a gun has been unloaded. The consequences of a mistake with a real gun can be life changing or life ending.
Using a platform like the T4E reduces the risk considerably. If you're using gas and/or projectiles you can still break/destroy things and you still need to be aware of riccochets, so you definitely need to wear eye protection, but T4E rounds won't go through multiple walls like real ammo will.
One of the big concerns with repeatedly unloading and loading a pistol for dry fire practice is that the bullets will get pushed into the case and eventually cause a dangerous increase chamber pressure. Training with your T4E reduces this risk considerably.
For newer shooters or less experienced shooters, the T4E offers a way to practice manipulation skills and safe gun handling without the risks associated with practicing with a real firearm. The lighter recoil spring will allow shooters with strength issues to learn and practice proper technique rather than contorting in unsafe ways to manipulate a recoil spring that is beyond their current ability.
Third, the T4E is ridiculously fun, regardless of how you're using it. More fun = faster learning.
Why 3 Types Of Balls?
You may be wondering why we're including 3 different types of ammo...balls, if you will.
The basic paintball rounds work great for most training situations. They work great on hard targets and blast right through paper & cardboard targets. They also work best for shooting punching dummies like the BOB from Century.
Powder balls smack like a ton of bricks, provide the best audible feedback, and create a small cloud of chalk dust when you hit something hard. In addition, they're better if you need to leave the ammo in an extremely cold or hot vehicle for a few hours.
Rubber balls pack a whallop and are useful for several training applications, but the best feature is that you can pick them up, rinse them off, and reuse them!
Powder balls and rubber balls can be left in the magazine under spring tension without deforming...we leave a piercing mag loaded up with powder balls or self-defense balls when we leave our boys home alone. It may not STOP a threat, but they can use it if our dogs get in a fight with a varmint or use it in a home defense situation to buy themselves time to get away or get to a better tool. It's important again to stress that this is not a toy. Check your local laws to make sure this is legal where you are.
Why Giant Cotton Swabs?
Part of shooting any marking round is that sometimes rounds break in the barrel.
And a big part of future accuracy is getting ALL of the paint/debris out of the barrel.
But, when you're training, time/speed is at a premium and you don't want to spend a second more than necessary cleaning your gun.
Over the years, I've tried LOTs of tips and tricks to clean dirty marking guns FAST and the best solution I've found is to run the red squeegee (included) through once, and then run a big, fat, GIANT cotton swab through the barrel.
I'm including a couple of different kinds for you to try...when they wear out, you can buy more OR just use the shaft to push 1/2 a cotton ball through your barrel. Either way, this is a much better solution than just using the squeegee.
Why Do I Want A "Piercing" Magazine?
The flat-base magazine uses an Allen wrench to secure and pierce the CO2 and they're the closest to your "real" magazines, but there are 2 times when they're not ideal...
When you forget or can't find your Allen wrench. (been there, done that)
When you want your T4E marker ready to use as quickly as possible.
For those situations, the piercing mag is best.
The piercing mag has a small button on the bottom of the magazine that allows you to secure and pierce the CO2 cartridge without a wrench. Simply smack the button against something hard and your magazine/T4E marker is ready to shoot.
Here's why this is important...
When you pierce the CO2 cartridge, it releases up to 900 psi into the gun. The seals & valves are durable and made to handle this for short periods of time...when you're training...but they aren't made to be stored under that kind of pressure for days or weeks at a time. I've left a T4E mag with a partial CO2 cartridge for 2 months and it held, but that's not a good idea if you want to maximize the reliability and lifespan of your seals.
If you want the T4E ready for quick action against varmints or intruders, the piercing mag is the way to go.
Ideally, we'll be able to send you one of each, but if we are unable to get piercing mags, we will send you 2 x flat base magazines.
More Durable Than Airsoft
The T4E marker guns & mags are made for training.
As an example, one of the Achilles heels of airsoft is the plastic lips on the top of the magazines...they tend to break when you drop your mags during mag changes.
The top of the T4E magazines are a metal hood...made to take drops.
I haven't had one wear out or break yet, but eventually they will and T4E sells rebuild kits so you can get your mags back in service much cheaper than having to buy a new magazine.
Compatible With Your Holsters & Gear
A lot of training guns aren't compatible with "real steel" holsters and the rails tend to be wonky.
The T4E markers fit perfectly into all of the holsters I've tried, including tight kydex and Safariland holsters with the dowel that goes in the muzzle and ALS retention that uses the ejection port.
And the rail works with lights, lasers, and MantisX without having to force it on.
Backed By Umarex USA's 60 Day Warranty
Umarex make these to be used.
And they back them up with a 60 day limited warranty. You simply contact them and they'll take care of you.
They won't replace the gun if you do stupid stuff with it or abuse it, but they do warranty the gear against manufacturing defects or premature wear.
What's the trigger like?
That’s one of the most common questions I hear about all other-than-live-fire training options.
The bigger question is whether or not the trigger on your training gun needs to feel like the trigger on your real steel and whether your training will carry over to live fire.
For precision shooting, you want your training trigger to match your competition trigger.
If the difference between a .09 split and a .10 split matter, you want your training trigger to match your competition trigger.
But when you do all of your training with a specific trigger, it oftentimes creates fragile technique that doesn’t carry over to other pistols OR high speed/high stress situations.
This can be a huge problem when someone who trains on a highly tuned trigger with a light, short take-up and short reset tries shooting a stock trigger.
On the other hand, if you’re training to be able to shoot whatever gun you pick up and you’re training to be able to perform at a high level when lives are on the line, then you want to be able to grip firmly and quickly press the trigger without disturbing the sights…regardless of what that trigger feels like.
So, to answer the question directly, the mechanics of the T4E trigger are different than on a carry pistol because the T4E trigger press is moving the barrel back to isolate the top round from the mag and seal the chamber.
The bigger question is whether trigger press training on the T4E carries over to shooting live ammo.
The T4E trigger press is heavier than most carry pistols and it has a different feel…but it does carry over to real steel incredibly well.
Is the slide plastic or metal?
The slide is metal. Because the forces are less than live fire, the slide is lighter than the slide on a real pistol, but it still feels real for training.
How far does the slide travel?
The slide travels about 1/3 as far as the slide on a real carry pistol.
Do the sights suck like on most training pistols?
I really like the sights on the T4E trainers. They use a yellow, 3 dot system.
What about training scars? Why do all the packages include training?
Any time you train improperly, you are at risk of developing training scars.
Any time you train a lot, because it’s easier & cheaper, that risk increases.
Particularly with airsoft and CO2 trainers like the T4E, it’s common to grip the gun lighter than you should AND it’s common to use the projectile flying through the air as an artificial aiming mechanism that won’t be present in real life.
We include training with each of the packages to maximize the chances that you’ll actually do training that will carry over to real-world life & death situations.
We don’t want you to just have fun training…we don’t just want you to check the box that you’ve trained…we want to give you the tools you need to train effectively and smarter than the other guy.
What about red dots?
If you have a dovetail mount, you could use it with the T4E.
But…
I strongly suggest that you consider adopting a technique like what we teach in Praxis that shooters seamlessly switch back and forth between irons and red dots.
Will the T4E work with Blazepods, Attacksense, and ROX?
Yes…I’ve tested them with all 3 and the T4E guns work great. I’m working with Blazepods to add light based drills and different sized targets to make them work even better.
What's the weight like?
Depending on which ammo you use, they’re about 30 ounces. Depending on what ammo you use, a double stack subcompact might be 23-26 ounces and a full size might be 30-35 ounces.
Airsoft and paintball are different than real steel because the weight of a full mag and an unloaded mag isn’t much different on a training gun but it is quite a bit different on real steel.
In short, people who use a fragile technique need to have everything exactly right…since you’re one of my patrons who are part of my clan/tribe and are focused on developing resilient technique that works in the real world, the difference is inconsequential.
As an example, I have trained exclusively with the T4E (full size) with iron sights and then went and performed on-demand at a match with my subcompact with irons or a red dot without skipping a beat.
It’s a case where fragile training creates fragile skills and resilient training creates resilient skills.
The T4E is full size...what if I use a compact, subcompact, or a single stack?
This answer has a few forks…
If you’re using a resilient training technique, like we teach, you can switch seamlessly between guns in the same family. In addition, you’ll probably be able to switch between guns with different grip angles…you’ll have a vertical offset with your first 1-3 rounds, but on standing targets, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
For single stack guns, things get complicated because of grip…
An old-school “rope” grip where a lot of force is applied to the sides of the gun can be quite a bit different for a single stack and a double stack.
If you’re using a modern “vice” grip that uses physics to manage recoil by applying pressure high on the rear of the grip and low on the front, then there’s significantly more carryover between double stack guns and single stack guns.
BUT…a lot of this depends on where you’re at as a shooter. A newer, inexperienced shooter or one who has focused on fragile techniques can be thrown off by small changes between guns. A more experienced shooter and especially one who has focused on resilient techniques can perform well with whatever gun they happen to find in their hands.
In short, the T4Es will work great regardless of which size gun you own from a manufacturer…and probably do you well for any other double-stack, but your mileage may vary if your only pistol is a single-stack.
What WON'T I like about the T4E?
I’ve used these platforms A LOT over the last few years. They aren’t perfect and no training platform (or gun) is, but it is incredibly effective.
These have been inconsequential for me, but I want you to know about them in advance.
Sometimes, the base plate on the mag slips and pinches my pinkie on reloads. Sometimes, it flies off of the mag when I’m doing reloads.
At 21 feet with perfect sight alignment and trigger press, the pistols are capable of about 4″ groups. I wish they were tack-drivers, but they aren’t. Even with this, they’re pretty darn awesome.
There are 2 weights of springs that are included…light and heavy. With the heavy springs and rubber balls, the trigger is pretty heavy. That’s because, when you press the trigger, the barrel actually moves backwards and the bottom part of the barrel slides between the top round and the next round in the magazine…the combination of heavy spring tension and the friction between rubber balls makes the trigger press firm. Not a deal-killer, but something to be aware of.
Since it’s powered by CO2 and not gun powder, the slide doesn’t travel as far as the slide on a real pistol.
Piercing CO2 can be a pain because of CO2 escaping…this is true with all CO2 guns. The piercing mag takes care of this, but then you’ve got the button on the bottom. With the Allen wrench, the way to take care of this is to tighten the bolt until it’s snug…then quickly turn the bolt 180 degrees. The wrench that comes with the T4E works for this, but I find a Allen wrench key set works better and is easier to keep track of.
CO2 pressure drops off as the cartridge empties and does strange stuff if it gets too cold. This is true with all gas guns. Each CO2 cartridge is good for 5 or more mags before pressure starts dropping. In cool/cold weather, I pre-warm my CO2 cartridges and T4E on a heating pad or with handwarmers.
For dry fire with the mag in, the slide locks back after each trigger press, but, just like with airsoft, you can fix this by pushing the magazine follower down 1/2 an inch or so and jamming a piece of string, paracord, or masking tape into the side of the mag to keep the follower from going all the way to the top.
With the MantisX, it reads the trigger reset as a 2nd shot…you can fix this by using the P320 setting and setting the filter to .5 seconds or 1 second.
The powder balls have a smell that is pleasant to almost everyone but me. I don’t like most artificial fragrances, including soaps, detergents, air fresheners, etc. I’ve got a nose that can smell stress from several feet away, patchouli from across the room and can usually smell wild game from a hundred or more yards away…that being said, I still love using the powder balls outside.
Finally, while they are built for hard use, they aren’t indestructible. If you beat the hell out of the mags by leaving CO2 in them for days or weeks at a time and drop them on hard rock/concrete hundreds of times while doing reloads, and occasionally step on them and grind them into the rock/gravel, they eventually need to be replaced or rebuilt with the T4E mag rebuild kits. In 2 years and well over 10,000 rounds, I’ve had 2 wear out. And while I want them to be indestructible, that’s pretty darn good.
How do you make the green plastic E-Type targets with the reactive center mass circle?
T4Es can be used with pretty much any target, but they are an awesome tool to use along with shooting based on changing visual input rather than responding to a beep…and this setup is the best I’ve figured out yet.
That’s what they look like after several hundred shots from orange & blue paintballs, powder balls, pellets, BBs, airsoft, and UTM rounds. I start with an E-Type Mil/DOD target. You can get them on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2SWQmU0 but they’re pretty expensive through Amazon. You’ll get access to my most current recommendation on where to get them as soon as you order…historically, they’ve been 50-60% cheaper direct from target companies, but there are some pretty crazy swings in availability and I don’t want to post out-of-date info here.
I make the cutouts with a Dremel https://amzn.to/2SZQYrY and a Dremel hole tool https://amzn.to/3pnfHCB In this picture, the center-mass disc is held in place with zip ties and the head-shot is held in place with 2 short pieces of shock cord.
I swap out the green plastic center mass disc with a clear polycarbonate/lexan one (DON’T use acrylic…it doesn’t stand up) You can get polycarbonate locally or on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2T0vlaU I have a local manufacturer make my discs for me and punch the holes, but you can make them with the Dremel and hole tool as well. I may sell them if there’s enough interest.
I use the polycarbonate centers so that I can attach BlazePods https://amzn.to/3fSpjlN or a smart phone behind the disc for visual based decision training. You can see the whole setup in action…with the T4E >HERE<
What are the lasers that you show on the rail and in the muzzle?
The 2 lasers I showed were:
Laserlyte Universal Rail Mount Laser Sight Trainer – works with or without gas https://amzn.to/3dWllZ1
and
Laserlyte Universal Laser Trainer Premium – works without gas blow back https://amzn.to/3uwgJP2 (Since it goes in the muzzle, it’s safe to assume shooting with gas while it’s in the muzzle is a very bad idea)
I've got a Glock / H&K / Walther. Will this work for me?
If you want a Walther PPQ M2 or HK VP9 version, let me know ASAP by replying back to the email that sent you here and I might be able to take care of you and keep the same pricing.
Glocks are $150 more now and I can’t offer the old pricing. BUT, I have an identical point of aim with the M&P as I do with my Glocks and I would say that the M&P is a 95% solution…you just need a holster that will work with the M&P. If you want a Glock…they’re awesome, I’ve got them in stock, and I can get you taken care of here
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