The quest for improved firearm training has gone hand-in-hand with the search for improved firearm training tools. When people think of those tools, they usually envision high-tech, self-resetting targets, 360-degree shoot houses, grip strengtheners or grip-mounted lasers. Hardly anybody realizes that one of the most important watersheds in firearm training was the gun culture's discovery of the Nelspot 007.

Designed as a tool to mark trees and cattle, the Nelspot 007 has another distinction: It was the first paintball gun. Single-shot and CO2-powered, in technological sophistication it's like a flintlock compared to today's full-auto bucket-fed paintball guns, but as soon as one person shot another person with one, the genie was out of the bottle.

In the late 1980s, the theory of using projectile firing "non-guns" for training took another huge leap forward with the introduction of Simunitions. To paint simply and with a broad brush, Simunitions are cartridge-fired paintballs that can be fired only out of slightly modified duty weapons.

A Glock 34 (bottom) and its airsoft replica. Quality airsoft guns have both the look and the feel of their real counterparts, making them great training aids. Because airsoft guns are so realistic looking, be prudent about where and how you display them in order to avoid any misunderstandings with police and the public.

Simunitions' value as a training tool can be seen by their worldwide use by military and police agencies. Training intensity always goes up when there's somebody out there shooting back, even if it's only with a "paintball" gun. There have been studies with officers wired up to heart monitors during house-clearing exercises, and when those officers know there is somebody else in the house waiting to ambush them--even though they know it's only with a non-lethal tool--heart rates go through the roof.

While immensely valuable, there are problems for the average civilian wanting to use Simunitions to train. First, foremost--and unfortunately--Simunitions are not sold to civilians. Second, even though some civilian training facilities have access to Simunition-converted weapons, they're not cheap to use. Also, their utility is restricted to "opposing force"-type training situations; nobody uses Simunitions to target-shoot at the range.

And last, according to Simunitions' own website, "Improper use of Simunition ammunition can cause injury, loss, damage or death."

While that warning sounds a bit overly dramatic, and no doubt was penned by a corporate lawyer, Simunition projectiles are powerful.

Numerous police agencies and civilian training academies have tried training with paintball guns over the years, but they have certain disadvantages, too. None of the quality paintball "markers" (the industry has shied away from the term "gun" in recent years) mimic commercially available firearms in look or feel, so their utility as training tools is lessened. Second, and perhaps just as important, paintballs make a huge mess. If you've ever seen indoor paintball championship matches on ESPN, the field looks like a gooey kaleidoscope. They can only be used outdoors, and only where the mess won't matter or can be hosed off.

The disadvantage common to both Simunition-weapons and paintball guns is that they really become useful only when going head-to-head against an opponent. Enter airsoft.

Say "airsoft" and most gun owners will have some sort of immediate reaction, and not necessarily a positive one. David En, of JAG Precision, a wholesale importer of airsoft guns and accessories, wants to take everything airsoft out of America and start all over again.

"It was introduced in entirely the wrong way," he explains. "At the time airsoft first became known in the U.S. it was marketed to all the guys doing paintball, so the first thing they did when they got all these airsoft guns was to go out and start shooting each other. And the only ones being imported were these cheap toys." And that first impression has stayed with the mainstream gun culture.