Reviews Training Toys or Tools? Dave Merrill July 9, 2026 Join the Conversation At RECOIL, we review every product fairly and without bias. Making a purchase through one of our links may earn us a small commission, and helps support independent gun reviews. Read our affiliate policy. Find out more about how we test products. We are always on the search for realistic training, for the methods to better ourselves and the tools that allow us to do more. Bridging the gap between live fire and the imagination is one of the highest aspirations, and the latest go is from Unit Solutions. Our introduction to this company came during low-light force-on-force training in a shoot house down in Dallas. There we used UNIT4 training rifles that shot marking rounds to rain pain upon our foes — and now they’ve done the same in pistol form with the new UNIT9. BETWEEN WORLDS Historically, the professional standard for military and police force-on-force training is Simunition, and way back in the early war days it was the first system I used that really put on the pressure. And for the last decade or so, UTM has been running right alongside them as the proven alternative. The UNIT9 is based on a “standard service pistol,” but we all know that means a Glock 19. These units convert your real duty weapon into a paintball marker, and they’re powered by primers, so they have some oomph with impact. It’s one of the better ways to simulate the stressors of a real firefight. Your gun feels real because it is real, and hits hurt enough you definitely don’t like getting shot. They are also not without their problems. Firstly, they can be finicky as hell. Some models run better than others, but there are always little devils to run down (I still have flashbacks of ramming Sim squibs out of my barrel at DARC). Secondly, they are expensive to run. Units and ammunition are expensive and hard/impossible to purchase even if you can afford them due to sales restrictions. Further complicating matters, the federal government has changed their minds more than once about who should be allowed to purchase or import Simunition/UTM ammunition (and could easily do so again). Sim/UTM ammo hurting is part of the point but also ends up being part of the issue. You end up needing a lot of PPE; people can get injured, and this liability is why purchases are restricted in the first place. Sales restrictions aren’t a problem for police, but they are for the general public. And budgets are a problem for everyone, except maybe agencies operating inside oil country. Many who want force-on-force training with projectiles but can’t get Sims/UTM have turned to airsoft. Instead of a paintball conversion squished into an actual arm, airsoft guns are toys that shoot plastic pellets playing dress-up as the real deal. But it seems even the best and most expensive airsoft is cheap. And when they’re regularly used as movie props, you can tell they just don’t have the heft. We’ve covered their training uses in previous articles — and while there is some utility, their playground origins ensure that they never last all that long in hard use. Between these two lies Unit Solutions, a system that shoots a plastic ammunition like an airsoft (but larger), but has the realistic weight, balance, and feel of an actual gun like Simunition and UTM. Part of how they ensured their products would be considered tools and not toys was by incorporating trainers and real weapon designers in the process. They focused a lot on durability, have real round counts, and lean heavily on government sales and contracts. You can find UNIT4 M4 trainers in hundreds of places, from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Marshals, and undoubtedly they’re looking to do the same with the UNIT9. The UNIT9 and a loaded Glock 19 weigh essentially the same. UNIT9 The UNIT9 looks mostly like a Gen5 Glock 19 but with a blue slide — which makes sense because that’s the default striker-fired pistol, the universal handgun size. But it’s not just looks — it feels like a real Glock 19, too. It’s dimensionally similar enough; it shares holsters, weighs the same, and you can even swap backplates. Under the optic over plate are holes for direct-mounting an RMR or DDP-pattern dot, and plates are available for footprints like the Aimpoint ACRO. The dustcover has a real Picatinny rail making accessories easy, and the magazine release is actually ambi instead of being merely swappable. UNIT9 magazines contain more engineering than Glock ever dreamed — which makes sense, as they house a pressure vessel. The magazines hold 15 rounds just like they should. The ammunition itself is 8mm, a bit larger than airsoft pellets. These recoil more, impact harder, and can hold a useful amount of marking paint inside. The whole thing is powered by threaded 8-gram CO2 canisters that are housed in the magazine. LOADING The procedure of filling the magazines is decidedly different than a standard pistol, because instead of just being a plastic box with a spring in it, the mag in the UNIT9 also houses a pressurized vessel and valve. Needless to say, they took a lot more engineering, especially because Unit Solutions guarantees their durability if you drop them during training like you should. The 8mm projectiles ride in a track along the front of the magazine. They can be loaded in singles from the top, but you can also break down the magazine and do it all at once. When a magazine is empty, the follower can be lowered down until it clicks and locks into the baseplate. A locking tab on the right side of the magazine is pulled down so the top end of the magazine can turn counterclockwise and be lifted off. From here, the CO2 cylinder can be swapped (be sure to purge any partials before removing!) and projectiles put in. Once the magazine is reassembled, you release the follower and you’re good to go. The first few times it’s kind of a pain in the ass getting the ammo out of the tubes, and they’ll fall on the floor and won’t line up in the mag the right way. Not a huge deal. SHOOTING Now for the meat. We outfitted ours with a SureFire XC3 and an Aimpoint ACRO. Yes, the enclosed ACRO looks a bit like a TV on top of the slide — and it also weighs nearly twice that of the Trijicon RMR. The idea was to test the UNIT9 on Hard Mode; if it runs reliably with an ACRO, it will run with about any optic (and we figure if they didn’t want us to use an ACRO, then they wouldn’t offer the adapter in a bundle). If I had a complaint, it’s that the UNIT9 trigger is better than ol’ Gaston Glock could ever produce. It breaks under 3.5 pounds, and it’s pretty smooth. The recoil isn’t the same as a 9mm — that would really take a lot of gas — but there is recoil and slide movement so you have to track the dot. This feels kind of like a full-size .22LR trainer, but less finicky, and I can shoot it in my living room or at my friends. UNIT9 pistols fit standard Glock 19 holsters, and you can mount RMR-pattern optics out of the box. Unit Solutions lists the range for non-marking rounds at 25 meters, but we’d peg it closer to 60 feet before you have too much holdover. Yes, you can do it, but it starts to reach into the unrealistic. Setting up a shooting range in a garage proved a ton of fun — and definitely watch your backstop (moving blankets and cardboard boxes are your friends here). Non-marking rounds will definitely ricochet! When the UNIT9 is empty, the slide locks back just like a real pistol. However, you can also use the UNIT9 as a blank pistol simply by running it sans ammo with the follower locked down to the baseplate. TALKING TURKEY And there’s been a lot of talk about force-on-force in this article, because hell yeah, it’s great training. But it’s also a money saver relative to other systems even though the base price of a UNIT9 is currently $749, which is more than an actual Glock. With UTM ammo you’re hovering around a buck a shot, and UNIT9 will run you $0.07 each for non-marking or $0.18 each for marking rounds. When compared to the cheapest live ammo, UNIT9 is closer to running .22LR, but of course this is much easier to run inside your house while staying married — and you can shoot your friends without going to prison. But force-on-force and money aside, there’s more going on here too: training inside your house when you can’t get to the range. The UNIT9 also makes for a good dry-fire pistol, with or without gas attached, because the trigger auto-resets itself without racking the slide. If there was a laser module you could put inside, maybe one that didn’t care if there was gas in the gun or not, you would have the best training pistol going on the market. Like a SIRT gun that can shoot. Unit Solutions already offers VR integration for ranges and agencies that employ them (these are an incredibly immersive option, too). LOOSE ROUNDS Something unexpectedly troubling about the UNIT9 is the fact Unit Solutions seems to have made a better handgun than many pistol makers manage to do, while explicitly not manufacturing a handgun. In fact, they got their design certified by the BATFE prior to pumping them out in quantity, because in the past, some other non-firearms were declared “readily convertible” and banned by that very agency. Given that part of the impetus of the UNIT4 and UNIT9 in the first place was to avoid unnecessary paperwork and regulation, this makes a lot of sense. You can buy the UNIT9 pistols individually, but a starter kit comes with everything you need to get going in one box. If Unit Solutions ever makes an actual gun, it would absolutely be worth checking out. All told, I like this one a lot, and I was already impressed with their offerings. You can pick UNIT9 training pistols individually or in different package sizes, complete with ammo, magazines, and carrying cases. Have fun, train hard, stay safe. Why you can trust RECOIL Since our founding in 2012, RECOIL remains the premier firearms lifestyle publication for the modern shooting enthusiast. We deliver cutting-edge coverage of guns, gear, accessories and technology. We go beyond basic reviews, providing no B.S. buyer’s guides, hands-on testing and expert analysis on everything from firearms and survival equipment to watches and vehicles. 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