Worked great for my Vizsla during his first Hunt Test. I continue to train with it and will use with confidence during our next events.

The Alpha pistol performs very well with both .22 short blanks and the small "acorn" blanks I am currently using with my lab pup. I'm glad I got the starter kit with the holster because at 1.5lbs the pistol is heavier than I would ever wear on a lanyard around my neck. The strap on the holster was too short to fit over the back of the hammer of the pistol and snap in place. But by rubbing water into the strap I was able to stretch it so it would snap in place. Once dried I rubbed in a good coat of mink oil on the strap and the and the rest of the holster..

Performs as well as I had hoped.

Very nice, well made pistol. Wish it could've been an 8 shot due to its size, but other than that, I'm very pleased.

Training my golden for senior hunt trials and after I hit the order send remembered I needed to replace my training pistol. I emailed them, they added it immediately to my order so I did not have to pay additional shipping and it arrived quick. I love the ability of reaching Gun Dog Supply via email if I need to add anything that I forgot. You can’t do that anywhere else. They were right on it and shipped it immediately and I didn’t have any interruption in my training.

Read Steve's comments and other's reviews before I made the purchase. They were spot on. The Alpha 22 is a well made blank pistol. Feels real solid in your hand. The sheath was also a good move. I keep the pistol on my belt when training the dog. I bought the 22 shorts which is all that was in stock for the blanks. Since I've never used the long blanks I don't have a comparison. But the shorts get the job done. Plenty loud enough to freeze the dog. This is not a budget pistol. But cry once and you'll be happy for a long time.

Everything is great except the case does not close properly when the pistol is in the holster. Had to remove some of the foam padding and it is still not closing properly. The plastic is also a little to light weight (cheap). Will have to go purchase a more rugged case.

Pistol looks very well made, however, I returned it because I found the pistol I thought I lost before it came it.

Sturdy construction, perhaps more than needed for a starter pistol. Large grips make it easy to handle. Kit is a good buy as it includes a well-made holster.

I recently ordered a blank practice pistol and ammo. The service was great and I received the product in just two days!! I received a follow-up call in twenty four hours which impressed me. Thanks Gun Dog Supply for your expedient attention! Joe Torvund

Well made blank gun.

This pistol is very well made and will probably last forever, but I wish it was a little lighter.

SEEMS TO BE WELL MADE AND WORKS WELL.

The starter pistol itself is great. You can tell it's a quality pistol that will last a lifetime the second you first hold it. But the holster that came with the kit is garbage. The snap on the inside of the holster is in a place that scratches the side of the gun, then the first time I was able to force the gun all the way into the holster to be able to snap the strap closed securing the gun, the snap broke. I had to order the nylon holster Gun Dog Supply offers as a suitable replacement.

Really is a very nice well built gun

I love it!

The gun works great. It is hard to find the quality of a blank gun like this in today's market. Thank you Steve

Best gun I've used. Tried two or three others before a friend let me use theirs and knew then I had to have one.

Don't make a mistake. Buy this one. You get what you pay for and this is a very nice blank pistol in 22 caliber. I would recommend it to my best friend.

This is by far the nicest blank pistol I have found on the market. It is heavy, well built and excellent quality. The package with holster is a MUST and a great value! I am beyond happy with this purchase. Gun Dog Supply is the BEST!

This is very true to life as far as blank guns go. I love it and it's loud. It comes with a holster and case!!! Hopefully only going to use it a few times for a JH test, but definitely recommend!

Great deal on the whole package including holster. I would recommend this to friends. I especially like the orange grip as a safety feature. A big plus for me is it can fire full-size blanks which I can pick up very inexpensively at Home Depot or Lowe's.

Product was as described. Appears to be very well made using good materials resulting in a relatively heavy, but nicely balanced/easy to handle pistol. Easy to load and unload. Trigger pull is very good...similar to my Ruger .22 revolver when cocking/firing single action, and a pound or so more when pulling trigger for double action firing. No misfires, handles the short acorn blanks and longer .22 blanks with no problem. It is suggested to point the pistol down when firing the acorn blanks as they may displace out of the cylinder ...that is what I have done with no misfires...haven't tried firing in any other position. Holster is well made of thick leather (stiff but is breaking in OK with leather conditioner and use). There is an extra snap on the back of the belt loop side of the holster that I haven't figured out its use, but otherwise a very solid and useful holster. It was also nice that everything arrived sooner than expected. Gun Dog Supply is very easy to do business with, they follow up to insure all is OK and they have good price/value compared to other product sources.

The quality of design, material, and workmanship of both the holster and the pistol are as expected. Excellent.

Nice gun.

Heavier than what I'm used to, but well built.

Top notch blank kit. The Alfa pistol has both the weight and feel of a real weapon. Makes use and cleaning easy. Self-ejects to reload. Kit includes holster, case and cleaning brush that saves $. Perfect for gun dog training.

Very well made piece of training equipment. Works great so far!

It feels great in my hand, works as it should and I can always find it in my training vest.

First rate pistol, no different than a fine revolver. Ejector is a nice addition. Much louder than old pistol with same loads. Double action works smoothly. Lanyard ring is very handy. I lose pistols regularly even with the holster.

Works like a champ! Many of my compadres are having trouble finding crimps to use. Someone told me about some 22 cal. blanks you can get at the big box stores that are used for nail guns. Those work slick as can be. Great service from you folks! Thanks for everything you do! Doug

I'm a starter at Track and Field meets. This is the pistol a person should have for that job.

Shipped within a few hours and received in just a couple days. Can't beat the order fulfillment and speed! Still haven't tried it out yet, but it's sure to be an excellent pistol.

I'm a cross country and track coach. I needed a higher-quality starter pistol for use in practice and meets. GunDogSupply.com offered the Alfa .22 for about $50 less than most of my regular equipment suppliers - and offered faster shipping - so you won my business. I'm entirely satisfied with the pistol. Thank you!

Have no complaints. I start high school track meets. It works perfectly.

Awesome training tool. Should have had one of these sooner.

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

Love it!

Excellent service very fast shipping and excellent product.

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.

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.

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.

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.