Sidearms
From Airsoft Community Wiki
Sidearms refer to a secondary weapon such as a pistol, machine-pistol, small sub-machine gun or other weapons that are small enough to carry on your person.
Their purpose is to provide a secondary weapon (or "backup") should your primary weapon's magazine run empty, or "jam" (undergo a malfunction with the mechanism/misfeed). In this case, during a high-intensity firefight, a secondary weapon may be neccessary to provide protection until which time you are able to clear the jam or reload your primary weapon.
Retention systems:
Retention refers to the amount of grip your holster has on your sidearm. A holster with too little retention will allow your weapon to bounce about and possibly fall out. A holster with too much will make it more difficult to remove your sidearm and thus slow down the transition process.
There are several types of retention systems, the most common being the thumb-break. The thumb-break is made from two seperate straps, joined by a single pop-button. To break this strap, simply flick the flap left on one side with your thumb (hence thumb-break). This pops the pop-button, allowing the strap to seperate and the pistol to be removed. There are however issues with this, such as re-holstering and re-fitting the thumb break, which can take time and sometimes requires the use of two hands.
The rotating-hood system used on Safariland SLS holsters feature a hood that flips over the top of the pistol, and locks in place, thus providing very quick and solid retention. To extract the pistol, simply press down on the thumb-pad of the hood, and push forward. This rotates the hood forward and presents the pistol for use. To re-holster, re-insert the pistol into the holster, and flip the hood back. It will automatically lock back into place with a click. This system is excellent for preventing attempted weapon-snatches.
BlackHawk Industries (BHI) SERPA active retention system features a locking mechanism, without the need for a hood. The pistol is held in the holster, and when required, the operator places his hand on the pistol grip, with their finger resting on the outside of the holster, where the trigger would be. They then press on the single lever, releasing the pistol. They can then simply remove the pistol from the holster. To re-holster, the person simply inserts the pistol back into the holster and presses down. The locking mechanism will click back into place, and the weapon will be in a state of full retention again. It has been said that there are disadvantages to the SERPA technology, in that there are more moving parts, and therefore more to be jammed up with grit and dirt.
Holsters
Holsters are pouches specifically designed for holding pistols and sub-machine guns. There are many types of holster, in various positions on the body, and all have their own advantages and disadvantages.
> Thigh Holsters:
The thigh holster, also known as a drop-leg holster, is mounted approximately half-way down your upper thigh, on the trigger-hand-side of your body. It is attached via an extending strap to your belt, with two (sometimes one on 'Paddle' style drop-leg holsters) straps that extend around the users leg. Thigh holsters feature all forms of retention, and it is often a case of finding the best for you.
These holsters facilitate rapid transition from primary to secondary weapons, as the trigger-hand naturally rests inches away from the pistol when mounted in a thigh holster.
There are however issues with thigh holsters. For certain woodland environments, they can cause problems with snagging on branches, foliage, and catching dirt on the floor when in a prone position and crawling.
>Belt Holsters or 'Hip Holsters':
Belt Holsters, also known 'Hip holsters' allow a pistol to be mounted on the persons waist, keeping it clear of the leg and thus of foliage etc. This type of holster is often used for woodland environments. It can also be used for concealed carry of a sidearm, underneath a tactical waistcoat (e.g. the 5.11 Royal Robins series) and other types of clothing. Again, many manners of retention are used.
>Shoulder Holsters:
Shoulder holsters feature a harness that is worn on the upper torso. It allows a holster to be hung under the operators non-shooting arm, thus allowing a cross-draw to quickly extract the weapon. This also allows for pistol magazines to be suspended under the opposite arm. This again can be worn for concealed carry situations, however these are not common in airsoft games.
>Chest-Mounted Holsters
These are popular for vehicle-operations, where a thigh holster would be impractical, as would a hip or shoulder holster. Mounting the pistol at a 45 degree angle on the chest, this allows a driver of passenger to extract their pistol rapidly from their chest, giving freedom of movement for debussing procedures and mounting up. These are often part of modular vest systems, and are described as "holster panels". They are mounted on the upper chest, allowing a rapid extraction, paticularly if you are right-handed and are on the left of a vehicle.
Primary-Secondary Transitions:
If you do decide to use a sidearm (an option that should be considered) then it is important that you practice with it as much as you do with your main weapon. I personally use a Safariland 6004 SLS holster, holding a WA Kimber MARSOC (MARine Special Operations Command) 1911 pistol. My main weapon is an M4 varient, usually a SOPMOD type, featuring an optic and vertical foregrip. (Although at the time of writing, I am without a main weapon due to financial reasons).
Here is my standard primary-to-secondary transition.
> Upon requirement of sidearm, shout "Jam" or "Secondary" to warn teammates that my range and rate of fire is decreased at the present time. Move to cover, however if cover is not availible/accessible/close enough, continue with drill.
> Whilst shouting this, release main weapon (its on a single-point sling and so naturally hangs down the centre of my body) and move right hand towards right upper thigh.
> Place hand on pistol grip, and rotate hood down and forward with right thumb, whilst going down onto my left knee. All the time, keeping my head up and looking around.
> Remove pistol, as soon as it is line-of-fire is clear of my body, take off safety catch and bring left hand up to support right.
> Lock arm out, front-sight-focus onto target, and fire a "Mozambique Special" (Two rounds to the chest, and one to the head) to ensure target is neutralised.
> Ensure that you are under no immediate threat, and that your team is safe, and continue to either use pistol, reload/clear jam on your primary weapon, or engage targets.
> Once primary is ready for use, re-holster pistol into 6004, whilst bringing left hand to grab M4 vertical foregrip.
>Grab pistol-grip of M4, make ready, continue with engagement, and shout "UP" upon completion of drill, to ensure teammates know you are now able to provide fire and cover.
Practice is important, and being able to fire the pistol from any position, in both hands, and be able to reload at any moment. (Ideally, practice this by loading random and unknown amounts of ammunition into individual magazines). Also, being able to rapidly transit from rifle, to pistol, to rifle, is an important skill. Practice moving with your pistol and firing.
Tactical Pistol Applications:
There are many situations in which a pistol has tactical advantages of a larger rifle, mainly due to size but also due to certain features of a GBB pistol that an AEG does not have.
Compact size:
The compact size of a pistol means that for urban warfare, the pistol can be held close up to the person and still used. It is also useful for detaining/searching a suspect, as a full-length rifle could easily be grabbed in an attempted weapon snatch, wheras a pistol is a smaller and therefore more difficult item to grab.
(As a sidenote, when searching a suspect, always have two people covering you, weapons up, aimed and ready, safeties off, set to auto, out of the field of view of the prisoner. They should be prepared to return fire and kill the prisoner, or move in and subdue him/her, should an attempted weapon-snatch or breakout occur.
Rapid semi-automatic fire abilities:
The GBB mechanism of a pistol is more responsive than that of an AEG. Semi-auto, that is, double and triple-taps, are more useful for room clearance, as they allow accuracy when entering a room, and reduced risk of hitting hostages, objectives, or injuring players. The motor of an AEG, in semi-automatic, requires the motor to turn over and compress the spring each time. Attempting to fire an AEG in semi-automatic too quickly can cause the mechanism to jam. However, with a pistol, rapid semi-auto shots can be acheived with relative ease.
Stealth options:
Whenever silenced weapons are mentioned in the airsoft community, one paticular catagory springs up again and again. The NBB, or Non Blow-Back pistol, does not expend gas racking back the slide of the pistol, to reload the next round, and instead uses all the gas for the firing mechanism, giving increased range. This also has a bi-product; without the racking slide, the pistol becomes very silent, and with a silencer, almost inaudible. The most popular of these NBBs are the TM Mk23 SOCOM and Walther P99 pistols. These are used for sneak-attacks, and in some cases (although rare), due to their range being similar to that of full-length AEG rifles, are used by snipers as a primary weapon.
This provides excellent capabilities for attacking targets at night and/or in foliage, without OpFor players being able to identify the source of the fire easily.
Posted by Matt (ASCUK: Nightstalker) at 01:01 on the 23/12/06.
