STORE LOCATIONS
The Oldest Airsoft Retailer In the United States
Online Sales (408) 492-9282

JOIN OUR AEX LOYALTY PROGRAM

LE Military Sales

LAW ENFORCEMENT AND MILITARY SALES

CAGE #318D5
DUNS # 032887387
Contact: [email protected] or 408.492.9282

Airsoft Extreme has developed extensive experience over the years in providing professional sales and service to numerous law enforcement agencies, military units, and private tactical training entities around the country. 

Airsoft weapons offer a safe and economical alternative to existing training products on the market and are perfect for agencies with general budget constraints or seeking to supplement their existing training equipment and increase training tempo without greatly impacting the existing overall training budget. 

Training uses of airsoft by our department/unit customers include:

  • Special Tactics/Emergency Response team training
  • Use of Force training
  • Defensive Tactics training
  • Police Cadet training
  • Team Tactics training
  • Active Shooter training
  • Weapon handling, safety, and presentation training
  • Force on Force training
  • Line Officer In-Service training
  • Room or Building Clearing training

Services that we offer include:

  • Providing evaluation samples for up to 30 days if requested on agency letterhead.
  • Custom quotation for quantity purchase.
  • Net terms purchase order acceptance.
  • Rapid order fulfillment from our multi-million dollar inventory
  • Follow-up technical service and support that can be tailored to your specific needs.

AIRSOFT: A PRIMER FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

What is Airsoft?

Airsoft is a hobby that originated in the US about 40 years ago in a very rudimentary form and existed for only a short while. However, the concept took hold in Asia where, in the past 20 plus years, they developed the hobby to its current level of sophistication and realism. It consists of replica guns that expel 6mm plastic round bb projectiles at relatively low velocities (~400 fps). The guns are powered by compressed gas or rechargeable batteries. The guns are 1:1 replicas in size and appearance functional controls similar to their real firearm counterparts. A vast majority of existing tactical accessories and gear for real firearms will work in conjunction with these replicas.

Why Airsoft for Law Enforcement?

Today’s law enforcement community faces an extremely dynamic environment where departments must deal with not only violent crime and community safety but also possible threats to national security, budgetary constraints caused by increased demands, and increased individual officer and departmental accountability and liability in use of force applications. It has become more and more critical for every officer to be able to demonstrate proficiency and competency in the use of the tools accorded to him or her. Airsoft represents a highly cost effective tool for achieving increased firearms and use of force training. It is an ideal complement to or replacement for Simunition®, depending on your department’s budget. Here are just some of the advantages why you should consider Airsoft.

Cost

  • startup costs are very low - a replica Glock or Beretta-type gun can cost as low as $100, a replica M4 carbine costs as low as $250
  • follow-up costs are also low - ammunition runs as low as $0.003 cents per round.
  • maintenance is minimal and most parts are readily available, cheaply, due to a large, existing civilian customer base
  • minimal financial outlay is required for safety, maintenance, and support equipment
  • no dedicated training facility is required and only minimal guidelines are required for training a rangemaster/safety officer and armorer
  • low equipment cost translates into increased training tempos, increased readiness, and the ability to provide tactical firearms training to a wider range of personnel with meaningful frequency

Safety and Realism

  • replicas are 1:1 in scale and approach or are equal in weight to the real firearm
  • most key functional controls are duplicated
  • with proper eye protection, the lightweight projectiles used in Airsoft guns completely eliminate any potential hazards associated with live-fire and Simunition® projectiles…the worst you can get is a small welt and a bruised ego
  • low power projectiles causes no or minimal damage which translates into a much wider range of environments in which training can be conducted, such as office buildings, schools, hospitals, etc. which is especially useful for adding realism to active shooter training scenarios
  • safety combined with realism allows your department to increase your personnel’s weaponry skills, retention of those skills, and be more effective with the those skills when the moment counts

Compatibility

  • all tactical gear used by your department – optics, armor, eyewear, load bearing vests, slings – are fully compatible with these replicas, negating the need to purchase dedicated-use equipment associated with such tools as paintball guns
  • because of their realistic replication of actual firearms, officers can experience increased familiarity and proficiency with the controls and use of their service weapons with frequent training

Low maintenance

  • only occasional cleaning is required, as opposed to heavier cleaning needed for gunpowder propellants
  • the replicas need only occasional lubrication and are practically maintenance free
  • with a service contract, Airsoft Extreme offers local, fast turnaround on major repairs

For the modern law enforcement department, Airsoft is an ideal tool for increasing the readiness of all your personnel, from the patrolman to the tactical team member. Every department seeking to give their officers a psychological and physical edge should consider adding Airsoft guns to their training arsenal.

Contact Us

To view a wide selection of our products, visit our website at www.airsoftextreme.com. For further information, demonstrations, or law enforcement pricing inquiries, please call or email us.

Below is an email sent by a state-level agency tactical team commander to another police department who had requested references and more information on airsoft training. The officer was kind enough to forward to us his response to the information request and we present it here in mostly unedited form:

Subject: RE: Airsoft in training programs

Good morning Sir-

Airsoft works well for three reasons (at least): Safety, versatility and cost.

Safety-

They are not, nor can they ever be real firearms. They are not able to chamber any sort of live ammunition. Not so with a Non Lethal Training Ammunition (NLTA) conversion, as you still need a real firearm as a host (dedicated Glocks notwithstanding). Never a chance of failing to convert a "live" firearm to NLTA. We are not even going to talk about blanks! The pellets used by Airsoft guns, shot at factory set velocities do not require staff be "padded up". Eye protection is obviously still required by everyone, but most end users of NLTA find that they need to pad up the players and operators in order to reduce injury claims. Airsoft pellets DO sting a bit, and provide sufficient incentive to make use of cover, but you don't need special (extra cost) protective gear. The pellets themselves slow down fairly quickly, making it safer if someone launches a pellet out of the training area. Also, if we are doing "Team movement" drills (not Conflict Simulation/roll playing....), we use the Airsofts. Traditionally we have simply cleared real weapons, taped the actions to keep them from being worked and gone about our training in that fashion. Again, by using Airsofts you don't have a real weapon, no chance of negligent discharge.

Versatility-

You can get Airsofts that replicate just about any real weapon there is (yes Virginia, even a GE Minigun!). Not so with NLTA conversions. This was a real consideration for us, as we use HK UMP Submachineguns. Since the pellets don't make a mess, nor do they impact as hard as typical NLTA, just about any location can become a training area. Office areas, Stairwells, break rooms, houses, vehicles, barns..............you get the idea. Don't like training with the same floor plan time and time again? With Airsofts you just find a new location and use it. Our Team built a bunch of moveable wall sections. We meet, set up a floor plan we want to "work", work it until satisfied, then change it if we want. Pick up the pellets (Broom, Vacuum cleaner........), tidy up the place a bit and your done. No paint splatter, dents, empty cases laying around (alarming the population, other staff.....).

Cost-

The Airsoft guns generally cost less than a NLTA conversion kit. The higher quality Airsofts are not cheap however. We paid around $400 each for our UMP's. Some of the metal body AR15's and MP5's can cost near that, or more. However, you can't even get a NLTA conversion kit for some weapons. The real cost savings is in the ammunition. NLTA is typically expensive ($.50 per round, or so), AND it has a shelf life. A bag of 10,000 pellets is less than $15, and will outlive us by a factor of 2! The Airsoft "Long guns" are usually battery (electric) operated, and rechargeable. Each charge is good for about 1000 shots,the Handguns are "gas" operated. They can use the same pellets in both. A can of the special gas is about $15 or less, and is good for 1000 shots.

Downsides-

There are a couple of downsides to the Airsofts to be aware of. Triggers on them are often not like the real steel guns. This is especially true with the electric guns. There is no recoil with the electrics, but some recoil with the gas guns. Gas guns will not shoot very well, or reliably in a cold environment. The gas can't expand rapidly enough to operate the system reliably. I'm told that gas guns will eventually break down, but we have not done so yet. How cold you ask? I don't know, but when it won't work, it's too cold! Probably around 50 - 60 degrees. Some of the guns are close to the weight of a real one (Handguns), and some are not. Some makes of the handguns don't quite fit in a holster like a real steel does. Most of the time they do, just don't count on it 100%. Same goes for magazines. They will,in most cases, fit the mag pouches, just tighter. But we have found that mag changes are seldom a big deal in properly designed Scenarios. One big thing is that you simply can't beat on an Airsoft like you can with a real gun. Things like charging handles and stocks can break from time to time, but your objective is to have an Officer respond to a deadly force situation appropriately, not worry too much about weapon manipulation, per say. If you do break something, most of the time it is very easy to replace (if you have the parts).

Overall though, the pluses outweigh the negatives (or potential negatives) by a wide margin.

We use the Airsofts for force on force training, primarily hostage rescue and building clearing. Usually we run some scenarios with just cardboard targets placed through a structure. We will mark them with numbers, shapes, colored shapes, or all of the above. Prior to starting the drill, the operators are briefed as to what number(s), shape(s) or ? are bad guys (or good guys), and the Team acts accordingly. This allows a number of "runs" without having to reset everything AND makes the guys think before they shoot. Discretionary shooting. We then transition to using live role players. We also use them for "High risk transport" training.

We have also used them for firearms training, especially when delivering the trainees initial instruction. There has been talk about conducting low light training with airsofts as well. You can well imagine the advantages of doing low light training anywhere you can dim the light, and any time of day (translation: less hassle for schedule changes, and overtime costs).

As an aside. We are VERY happy with Airsoft Extreme. They have always responded to our needs in a timely manner, and provided the equipment at good prices. In short, I have no reservations of any kind recommending them as a supplier of Airsoft weapons,or related gear.

I hope this helps you in your decision making process. PLEASE contact me as much as you like if you have further questions. I will be gone from Wed of next week through (xxxx). We are conducting TERT (SWAT) basic, and I will not have access to email.

Good luck!