I just started using it today. Up here in Maine we have 3 ft of standing snow on the ground. Little hard to train. So far the pistol is great. Will let you know as the season goes on. Dan

I use this gun for starting track meets, and it is great. Had a different one, and this is much better.

I use it every day.

Great Product, service and very fast shipping.

Initially it has performed very well with the short crimps. I need to use it more to try different loads to see how they work.

Very pleased with the Alfa .22 blank/starter training pistol.

Make sure to sell blanks, dummy launcher blanks cause problems!

I am a Track and Field official and purchased three of these last summer for myself and other officials. Mine was used last evening for the first time for a seven team indoor meet and it performed flawlessly for more than 50 cycles with black powder caps and no cleaning. I am pleased with what I am seeing so far.

Works great, probably should have ordered another box of blanks at the time of purchase though.

Excellent service very fast shipping and excellent product.

Love it!

Pistol is great, very well made and rugged. If I could change one thing it would be to put in a better, padded case. The case it comes with offers no real protection.

I am a track & field official. This is an excellent gun for starting track meets. The hole in the top of the barrel allows some of the noise and flash to blow away from ones head. I have probably gone through several thousand blanks thus far, and the gun has not failed to fire or missed on rotating to a second fire for a false start. The only problem that I have encountered with the gun is that it is hard to clean. The exit holes in the cylinder are smaller than the shell size and the paper wads from the blanks tend to clog the openings.

The only negative thing I can say, and really it's not a negative it's more information those who purchase this kit in the future, is if you need it right away that the blanks can't be sent by air. Other than that I love the gun and the way it feels.

The Alfa blank pistol is very well made. It's heavy duty construction is very similar to a normal pistol, and the action is quite smooth. Occassionally the shells will back out of the cylinder slightly & cause the cylinder rotation to hang up, especially during or after holding the gun overhead. This, however could be caused by the blank shell. Also, I thought the holster was pretty flimsy & should be heavier duty to handle the fairly heavy Alfa pistol. I've had two other blank pistols, & they're like toys compared to the Alfa. Even with the relatively minor drawbacks I've mentioned, I'm well satified with the pistol & would feel comfortable recommending it.

Gun works well with various 22 blanks, Rugged, fires without a skip- if you use acorn blanks, do as book says and point down when you fire to be sure of detonation. Training with friends, cheaper light training pistols go click a lot when this ALPHA FIRES EVERY TIME and no problem with ejecting spent casings as is common in cheaper pistols. Gets a little heavy on hip holster after a few hours. Had to force pistol hard into holster to get flap buttoned over the pistol. I would buy it again and recommend it as a good tool.

I have used this product a lot -at least several times a week since it's purchase and have had no misfires. However it is very difficult to get the spent blanks out. I have to hit the cylinder with a bumper in order to get them out to reload. I am not the only one who experienced this difficulty. It is not as good as my old NEF ( I lost the cylinder ) but better than many out on the market.

Not the quality of the older nickel plated Alpha .22 I had stolen. Action is rough and cylinder release hard to operate.

Had the chrome mode but it got stolen. Had to be repaired. Transfer bar is made out of pot metal. This one may not be but I have heard of these going back also. We will see. Mike

This is a great gun for field trial/hunt test training use. It\'s light and user friendly. I would recomment it to anyone in the market for one.

Excellent quality and reliability. Far better quality than any other blank pistols I have used in the past. I use it training Police and Protection Sport dogs, so it sees year round use. I like the ability to use quieter crimps for younger dogs, and graduate to louder loads for more experienced dogs. I have purchased several products from Gun Dog Supply and have been very satisfied with quick delivery, and excellent quality.

It jammed from day one............ I returned it for a refund after two weeks and found an old NEF started pistol on line.

I prefer the Alfa to our other pistols because it does not stick like the 209 shells do in the others. It is my favorite!

This is a great pistol. This is very well built and durable. The orange handle is very nice, makes it easy to see if you happen to drop it in the field

Steve, I use my Alfa 22 blank pistol to start indoor track meets. It works very well and is very loud. I have actually used it at outdoor track meets and it is louder than some 32 blank pistols I have used. I am very pleased with this pistol.

Liked: Easy to load/unload and reliable performance. Dislikes: None

I used this title for four legs of the AKC Junior Hunter title, and it and my dog did very well together. I never had a problem with the pistol. Friends advised me to stay away from the very cheap pistols, and I\\\'m so glad that I did!

If I point the pistol up into the air, it sometimes doesn\'t want to fire because the blank cartridge slides back out of the cylinder and catches on the way to the firing position. As long as I point it down or level, it works fine.

EXCELLENT

Well Built

I'm not using the gun for a dog (but I love the Corgi), using it as a track&field official for race starting. we use the 22 indoors, I also have a 32 (from you) for outdoor meets. for indoor meets with the 22, I may shoot up to 50 or so rounds over 2 to 3 hours. outdoor meets can be either the same or a lot less depending on how the meet is set up. we use black powder blanks as we need all of sound, flash, and smoke so that runners do not have to look at us while timers on the opposite end of a track can "see" a start without relying on sound, which can have a significant delay at those distances. both the 22 and 32 Alpha are excellent at that, especially due to the porting of blast and smoke out of the top of the barrel. meet participants have noted to me the better sound and flash/smoke of the Alpha compared to a different brand blank firing gun when used back to back in a meet. with black powder, the gun must be cleaned after about 50 rounds, sometimes more frequently. the usual problem is that the cylinder will not open or will not go back into position while reloading. the usual cause is junk from spent rounds either clogging the shell ejector or collecting at the bore end of the cylinder. the narrower bore end of the cylinder (which prevents use of true bullet rounds) tends to collect junk. the extractor has tight enough tolerances that almost anything will impact its positioning. I typically carry at least a cleaning brush with me all the time.

I got my alpha pistol a few days ago and love it. It's well built and looks like it will last. It's no toy. I chose the.22 so I could use different levels of sound for pups and older dogs. I was told it might jam with acorns but pointing it down it works perfect. I like all the orange on it for safety. I feel the product is well worth the money.