starter pistol

[James]

Use ours a lot, mostly for labs but still get through loads with the springers too. It sounds daft but you soon get used to the revolver types and how to keep them firing without a misfire. It's when you lend to others it goes tits up

[Judy]

I don't think my revolver has ever been consistent, maybe they vary a lot, the type I have also dumps its guts on the ground if you don't remember to keep screwing up something or other (can you tell its years since I used it?). I stopped using it years ago, its black, it looks like a gun and I used it in public places, recipe for disaster.
I don't teach my dogs to stop to shot, I used to but they found chasing runners during the drive difficult.

[crackerd]

Related question: Are you lot allowed to have a "realistic" starter or blank pistol, say a Webley revolver? Or must your training pistols be clearly seen as "toy guns?"

High-quality ("realistic") training pistols are no longer manufactured in the US, the real arms manufacturers are putting their energies and efforts into real arms, and the last half-decent training pistol manufacturer, GunX, went out of business last year (and took the "lifetime warranty" for its products, .22 and .209 pistols, with it).

But don't think I've ever heard a definitive explanation on what you all are permitted to use for gundog training - and if "permitting" is in fact something trainers can be granted for a higher quality blank or starter pistol.

MG

[James]

Up until a few years ago i didnt mater but now all new ones are bright orange. I still have two black revolver types that i use and they must be 10 and 13 years old.

[trekmoor]

The laws on this subject have always been a bit hazy to me. I'm told blank firing pistols in .22 now have to be orange or yellow in colour ? I bought one about 4 years ago and lost it first time out ! I have had two of the revolver type and one of the semi-auto type and had misfires from all three pistols. I am death to anything techie however so maybe it wasn't the pistols fault ?

I no longer have a starting pistol. I just use party poppers for sit-to-shot spaniel training . I can carry some of them into any public area out in the country or even in a park in a town and pop them off and the police never bother me.

I read a couple of years back that using dummy launchers can get you lifted by the polis even if you think you are in a place where firing a shot from one of these would do no harm at all.

Wullie

[Gundogguy]

It is the little things in dog training that can make it very interesting Have not use a "starter pistol" or as it called by many here "blank pistol".
As an avid shooter, clays and live bird, I started rolling my own 12ga & 28ga loads some 25 yrs ago. Loading "blanks" or "popper loads" for early introduction training was simple and very economical. This also helped in the introduction phase of a dog development. There was no transition for the pup seeing a pistol to seeing a long gun and the pup hearing the action of a long gun being loaded or unloaded in the field. Though I sure there are some cultural issues to be met, what with differences in laws and land use issues.

[crackerd]

Up until a few years ago i didnt mater but now all new ones are bright orange. I still have two black revolver types that i use and they must be 10 and 13 years old.

Ta, James - are yours good quality pieces? My training pistol is a revolver type made 30-odd years ago by a company called H&R in Connecticut a/k/a Gun Valley, USA. Probably has had 50,000 .209 primers through it over time and many repairs and replacement of lost parts (cylinder, firing pin) along the way, with a couple of spot-weld jobs to keep it firing. I paid all of $5 for it 15 years back as essentially a block of scrap steel encased in rust, then got it rehabbed with lots of elbow grease and WD-40.

But getting such a pistol, even used, today is all but impossible. The funny thing is, the best source for training pistols in the States (if buying them retail) used to be a theatrical props outfit called Weapons of Choice. Not too long ago, after the last of the quality gunmakers closed shop, they had a couple of H&R/New England Firearm .22 training pistols for sale for about $1,000 each if I recall correctly. This same piece would've gone for one-sixth that price five years ago - now the props outfit only rents them for individual productions. If you can get them, what would a Webley starter pistol or blank gun go for over there, and mindful of what Bill noted above, what kind of paperwork must you have at hand for possessing one?

MG

[crackerd]

P.S. What gundogguy has intimated above about "rolling his own" re: "popper shells" is a great stroke if you've got the wherewithal at hand for reloading old shells with confetti, rice, or bird-seed to turn them into poppers. Buying factory-made shotgun blanks, a/k/a poppers, is a costly proposition however - usually in the vicinity of $15 for a box of 25, maybe more. For retriever trainers, with a young dog getting acclimated to associating a gunshot with marking (and making) a distant retrieve, they can be invaluable, at whatever the price. Does anyone over there follow this practice - and if so how common is it among trainers? - as, until gundogguy mentioned it, I'd not seen poppers or shotgun reloads with confetti, rice or bird-seed referenced as a UK training option.

MG

[AlandJake]

I'm not at this stage yet with my dog, but if you have the land and necessary permission to be using a shotgun as part of your dog training, it would be easier and cheaper to use real shotgun cartridges and be bl##dy careful what you are doing.

Yes, blanks are available here, sometimes referred to as yachting or saluting blanks, but are powered by black powder, so best not use your best Purdey, and cost a quid a go.

[munstyman]

Having seen adverse ( dogs showing discomfort ) reactions to shotgun blanks I strongly advise not using them, they are very loud and the `bang' is wrong. I go from pistol ( stop to shot training ) then straight to `real life' shooting over the dog with no real issues.