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Whether you call them blue guns, rubber ducks, decoy guns, or whatever, solid polymer practice guns can serve a multitude of purposes while helping to hone perishable skills on the cheap as well.

The military and police have for generations used dummy guns to train new recruits. Often called “Quaker Rifles” back in the 19th Century, they were typically wooden rifle stocks affixed to a solid receiver and barrel. They were made from stocks of surplus guns and piles of damaged weapons no longer safe for service. In some cases, drill rifles and pistols were made from once-working guns that were pulled from service. Dewatted with a steel rod welded inside their barrel and bolts or firing pins sheared off, these guns are still seen in the hands of military school cadets and ROTC units.

Today its far cheaper and efficient to mold solid replicas out of polymer that very accurately capture the size, dimensions, and surface controls of modern firearms of just about every popular model.

My own personal SIG and its comparable Blue Gun. One of these never leaves the house while the other is safe for intense training away from the range.

To see why you need one of these for training, keep reading in my column at Firearms Talk