Ammo is scarce and expensive. There are quality replicas that are identical to the build, weight, and action. My question is would this be a practical alternative that would cross over well for for aiming, target practice, and simulation for the real deal?
I remember that kid. Trex Arms did a video with him.A few years ago, A 17-year-old Japanese boy who had never touched a firearm in real life, but had been an airsoft enthusiast in his home country,
and who made it a point to diligently practice drawing, shooting, and hitting the target rapidly with various airsoft weapons (both pistols and AR carbines) finally came to the USA and was taken shooting as a guest of some gun writer / blogger affiliated with some gun or ammo company.
The Japanese kid had mad skills right from the start! He looked very professional; he knew how to handle these weapons with minimal coaching (just a few minutes, mostly regarding how the optics worked & range safety rules).
When cleared to fire on the very first magazine full of live ammo the kid had ever discharged, he was off to the races, doing much better than most Americans and even doing better than some of the shooters' coaches at that range that hosted him.
So yes, non-recoiling or minimally recoiling air guns or airsoft guns can definitely let you up your skills and improve your game for real firearms that you'll go back to later.