Does anyone run "pistol only" ? (a long winded train of thought...)

[NH Shooter]

The reason I ask, is because... Well... I'm interested really...

But I looked at my loadout recently and wandered how exactly I could cut down on weight. So I looked at my chest rig and I basically carry a...

- radio pouch, which houses spare batteries, the radio, my torch and some pyro...

- mag pouch for 4 mags.

- admin pouch for tools, gun battery, etc.

- 3ltr water pack.

- bum bag with 4k rounds, pyro, sweat rags and wallet, etc.

- 2 pistol mag pouches

So... I don't need the radio pouch. It has a good clip, and when will I ever need to carry spare batteries? ... I'm on the field for an hour at a time... The torch I can pocket, sort pyro later.

4 mags? I use maybe 2 a game... If I'm heavy on the trigger... One of which is in the gun... So one mag left to locate. Bin that pouch. Admin pouch... I don't need to carry all those tools... If it goes that bad, I'm off to the safe zone anyway... Where my car lives. Bin that. Bumbag... I don't need to field any of that... Sack it off. Water carrier... Has its own backpack straps.

So my chest rig now houses... 2 pistol mags. That's pretty light! Sack off the chest rig!

Now... I looked at my weapons... My rifle has some decent range. Longer effective range than 80% of the fielded weapons. Of the remaining 20%... I match some, the rest do me... But does it need to go that far? Generally, I'm only hitting people around 40-50 yards or less due to the way my sites are. And I'm only getting hit at that range unless it's by a sniper....

OK... My pistol... That's effective to 60 yards. Which actually matches the 80%... Above that, we're talking snipers and support gunners again... Plus a few really good M4's or whatever. So basically... My pistol and rifle have the same capability in game.

So... I can sack off the rifle? Seems to be!

That adds issues with ammo, and suppressive fire... But you can get around that. I only ever use semi anyways... And hpa-ing of the pistol sorts ammo and gas... So... All that actually leave is the 20% to deal with... And I have a plan for that.

So pistol only... Discuss!?

 

[PT247]

I run with as lightweight a loadout as possible. Quite often I put my rifle down to mug barricades with my pistol but I'd not go out without the rifle. Running a big drum mag with HPA through a pistol would be fun but would bug the he'll out of me if it was all I had

 

[Cheeky vimto]

I used to run a vest but decided to slim down. My light weight load now consists of;

Molle belt with molle suspenders

2L camel back

3 loaded speed loads in a pouch

2 mp5 mags and a tube of shotgun primers in a 3 mag pouch

1 extra pistol mag

A bag of BB in a pouch on the back of belt

Dump pouch

BFG clipped to suspenders

Pistol clipped to suspenders

Mp5

I found just getting rid of vest and mounting everything on a belt made the weight distribution better. I wouldn't get rid of the primary because sometimes you need that cover fire. Maybe get a small sub (Uzi, mp5) that isn't so big?

 

[AK47frizzle]

For a pistol I plan to have a Tanaka S&W hunter with a rifle scope on it to serve me as a pocket sniper rifle.

Then some short weapon as a main

 

[NH Shooter]

Yeah... The full auto capability is useful... But I can fire pretty fast with just a pistol... If anything, something akin to a p90 would work over the shoulder if i really needed it... But I've found that people will keep their head down as much for a semi barrage, as for a full one.

I've never thought "oh, that guy is only on semi firing 4-5 rounds a second... I'm safe to stick my head up" also worth considering that you would have a hand spare to toss pyro... If your talking about suppressive fire...

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

I run pistols only in CQB quite often, the mobility you gain is a huge advantage, and there's just something fun about pistols, the action is vey visually pleasing and because they're generally seen as back ups or "secondaries" I think people assume it takes more skill and effort to be successful with them, which makes them that much more satisfying to use.

Though I do think it's worth mentioning that although pistols and rifles might be equally accurate at range if you clamped them down on a range, the human element makes aiming a rifle at longer range infinitely easier, having your shoulder, head and both hands all on the gun give you a far more natural idea of where it's pointing, and you can hold it far more still.

With a pistol all point of contact is back of the barrel, there are less points of contact and you can't brace it against anything, which makes it quite hard to consistently point in the same direction. The longer the gun is, the easier it is to point it at things that are further away.

I only run a chest rig with my L85 any more, and that's just to carry the mags and flesh out the look of the gun, I just don't think L85s look right unless there's all the right kit paired up with them.
With everything else I run a belt, consisting of my pistol, 2 pistol mags, a pouch for 2 rifle mags, a utility pouch for 6 extra rifle mags (which I'll transfer to the double rifle pouch as I use them), a dump pouch and my BFG. If I need anything else I can carry it on my back in a bag.

 

[BrightCandle]

A lot of people go through this progression. They start with very little gear, then they gain chest rigs, belt rigs, molle everywhere even on their legs and gradually they realise they are carrying a lot of gear into a game and they never use it all. There is this moment of realisation that its very heavy and not worth carrying so much stuff and then you snap back to something less overburdened. Going all the way to the pistol is certainly going to limit your long range accuracy (not because of the gun but because of how you hold it) and its probably going too far, but I do often wonder if midcaps are worth all the extra bulk.

 

[Gungeorge]

Two guys from the site I go to have been running pistol only one fully silenced pistol and one for general purpose and will say it was really working for them made me consider it

Although I accidentally gave them away with the fact my glock being one of the loudest if not the loudest pistol that was on site

 

[Russe11]

In CQB, I find the best loadout is a pistol, 2 spare mags in pockets. It's quieter and allows faster movement.

 

[Mr Monkey Nuts]

Just because a pistol will shoot to 35m doesn't mean its effective to 40 yards, with well placed, timed, aimed shots its likely you can hit a man shaped target at that distance, but under pressure and fire is a different situation. The 100mm barrel in pistols just don't give ranged stability to the BB, and all the inconsistencies in your shooting will be amplified. A pistol is great for up to 20m indoors and in kill house settings, but in open fields and woodland with wind and trees, you will find yourself frustrated and outgunned.

I have been there, and done that. one thing you could do is put a longer barrel in your pistol and hide it in a silencer, the barrel gives a bit of extra stability, but your still limited to your ability to carry and aim a pistol, and the ammo it can carry.

Its also incredibly tiring to hold a pistol in the ready position all day. A rifle with a stock, should always be ready, or half a second from ready at least. you cant do that with a pistol for 6 hours.

Where do you play and how long for? in reality most games (excluding milsim) rarely last 2 hours most considerably less, 50 min, and 10 min rest at safe zone seems to be fairly standard, yes?

so why carry enough kit to re take kabul? leave as much in the safe zone as you can, take only what you need. you can always come back if your short.

- radio pouch, which houses spare batteries, the radio, my torch and some pyro...

You don't need batteries, if a battery dies, you die, Return to safe zone. Raido, if you need it, on a belt loop or in a pocket. Torch ..... what use is a torch in a pouch? do you play in the dark? do you need a torch? if you do, attach it to the gun, more usable, you wont lose it and you don't have to carry it.

- mag pouch for 4 mags.

Fast Mags, £16 for 2 on ebay, they can go directly on any standard belt safely and securely without any other support or rigs. They are rigid, reliable and never fail. Hi caps are noisy, but give a lot of fire power, I am liking three 150rd midcaps, two on the hip one on the clip.

- admin pouch for tools, gun battery, etc.

lose it, patches are for willy waving in the safe zone not for the field. Use a pocket for maps.

- 3ltr water pack.

3 litres? 3 litres? if your only out for an hour why do you need so much water? lose it, well keep it in the safe zone. if you need to drink on the field take a smaller 300ml evian bottle in a leg pocket.

- bum bag with 4k rounds, pyro, sweat rags and wallet, etc.

Again 4k rounds, I only take 4k to a game and expect to take half of that home, a hicap full in a zippy bag, in your right thigh is all you need to carry on the field. leave the rest in the safe zone.

pyro and wallet is a tricky one, personally I leave my wallet and phone in the car, and carry small amounts of cash, I don't trust airsofters, but if they steal £5 I'm not going to cry. Phones, if I have it I'm more likely to use it than talk to new people, its a social game, be social.

Pyro is your biggest issue it seems, how much do you use in a game?, you could get a utility pouch on your belt, but I would be tempted to load it all into my right thigh pocket.

- 2 pistol mag pouches

good call.

I have been working on an effective lightweight loadout and I think I'm almost sorted for what works for me.

Boots, lightweight DMP trousers, very light and roomy, standard canvas belt, simple surplus, ex issue, wicking t shirt, you can but them for £5, baseball cap or digger hat, possibly a shemagh if you want to protect your neck and face.

Gear wise, M4 with mag, 1 point sling, Pistol in drop leg on right thigh, fast mag with two midcaps on left hip. Pyro and spare speed loader, in right thigh pocket, radio in right hip pocket, leaving the left thigh open as a dump pouch.



Simples and light.

Obviously that's all just my personal opinion and musings on the point, feel free to ignore it all. its a case of trial and error until you find a combination of kit that gives you the right amount of flexibility and comfort.

 

[NH Shooter]

I would like to point out... You've basically just parroted everything I have already said... lol

The only things not covered are pistol effective range... Which I'm happy with. Last game, with 2 snap shots... One guy moving from cover and another leaving a doorway... Got 2 kills at close to the 45-50 yard mark in woodland settings... Another across the courtyard to the head, at 34 strides... (checked after)... I'm happy calling that ~30yards. I think you drastically underestimate a good pistol...

And torch... Which is in a pocket as it's only needed for the single (pitch black) kill house in the middle of the Woodland, and searching the odd underground section for props. A quick detach mount sorts all ills without having to carry all that extra mass on the front of the gun. The rest is fieldcraft.

Thanks for your input though.

 

[Black Death]

Played at red1 cqb site on sunday. I ran pistols only for the second half of the day with zero gear

2 TM desert eagles with .3s

2 x spare mags in trouser pockets (approx 120 rounds total which is plenty)

A lot of us play this way (usually single rather than dual) as in cqb there's alot to be gained by playing this way.

My favourite part of this setup is not having to worry about breaking gear whilst doing hip slides, superman slides and jumping through the air lol.

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

You leap through the air at people...

The cleaners at your site must get tired of mopping up all the piss.

 

[Igilmour]

You leap through the air at people...

Doesn't everyone?

 

[NH Shooter]

I'm rather impressed... That's my entire days loadout for tomorrow... The gas and ammo stays at base and half the bumbag is my glasses, hat, gloves and the 3 mags that will be on my person. So... Lightweight!

The only thing missing is the serpa and mag pouches... Which are on my trousers already.

Not bad, I don't think.

 

[Sitting Duck]

I think I'm ready now for pistol only cqb

http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/7377-the-what-have-you-just-bought-thread/page-175#entry159603

 

[BrightCandle]

Today in one game I got through 1200 (550 loaded initially into mid caps, the rest from the speed loader) rounds of my main rifle, all 3 magazines of my pistol (72 rounds) and the game still wasn't over. Just sometimes a pistol isn't enough.

 

[two_zero]

I think I'm ready now for pistol only cqb

http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/7377-the-what-have-you-just-bought-thread/page-175#entry159603

not sure if I quite agree with the yanks definition of a pistol ^^

posted that in the ed-thread?

 

[Esoterick]

I like to run a pistol only up to about 20 metres after that I feel more comfortable with my rifle. My personal preference is to unclip my rifle and leave it to relax on a wall while I run in. If I was at a CQB site where all the engagements were going to be less than 20 metres I'd happily run with just a pistol, but I'd want to go from 3 to 5 mags. Not that I would use them most likely, I just like to have a bit more ammo than I generally use to hand.

 

[NH Shooter]

Today in one game I got through 1200 (550 loaded initially into mid caps, the rest from the speed loader) rounds of my main rifle, all 3 magazines of my pistol (72 rounds) and the game still wasn't over. Just sometimes a pistol isn't enough.

It's going over to hpa, linked to a 4k drum mag soon... She'll be fiiiiine.

I was considering a amoeba for something you could shoulder.

http://www.surplusstore.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/8e94b9347e01b77eb5544a09ce3e947a/a/r/ares-amoeba-3.jpg

I've just got a ready mag... So 2 flash mags, weighs about 2kg, 11.1 inside ... Tiny support gun. On your back