As a follow-up to their UNIT4 Training Rifle, Unit Solutions has introduced its first non-lethal training pistol, the UNIT9 Compact — a safer, more reliable and more affordable alternative to traditional conversion kits. Unlike other training systems that convert a live duty weapon with a swapped slide or barrel, the UNIT9 is a purpose-built, dedicated training pistol that cannot chamber or fire a live ammo cartridge. Classified by ATF as a non-firearm, the UNIT9 removes the single most dangerous failure mode in force-on-force training: a live round finding its way into a “training” gun.
The UNIT9 Compact was thoughtfully designed to be compatible with almost any of the same accessories agencies already have in use, including lights and red dot sights. If your holster will fit a Glock 19, it will fit the UNIT9, allowing officers to start a training evolution as they would in the real world: drawing from their duty holsters.
The basic UNIT9 Compact set-up comes red dot-ready for any optic with an RMR footprint and includes one magazine and a barrel cleaning tool for $749. Optional upgrades include additional magazines, RDS plates for ACRO and DeltaPoint footprints and a USA-manufactured case from Condition 1 with custom foam.
In addition to the included barrel, MILO and Laser Ammo laser barrels with visible or IR lasers are also available, allowing departments to use blanks to introduce realistic recoil even when training without projectiles.
Key capabilities and design highlights
For decision-makers evaluating the UNIT9, the realism of the training pistol is on par with others: same trigger feel, same weight profile and same manual of arms. Where the platforms diverge is the operational profile. The UNIT9 can use CO2 alone (blank training packs or TPAKs) or CO2 and projectile TPAKs rather than primer-powered cased cartridges, so there are no lead primers, no brass to sweep, no hot gas venting near the shooter and none of the jams operators routinely report with conversion-kit systems.
If you’ve used an airsoft pistol, you will be familiar with the basic operation of the UNIT9: Load the magazine with rounds, charge with CO2 and start shooting. But you’d also know an airsoft pistol isn’t durable enough, reliable enough or versatile enough for high volume, professional-grade training.
UNIT Solutions addressed these shortcomings when designing the UNIT9. The platform is built through the firearms supply chain in the U.S. with only the highest-quality materials. It features the same weight, trigger break and recoil as your duty pistol, so every rep transfers. The easy-to-load magazine bodies are thick metal with a shock-absorbing rubberized base, designed to survive hundreds of drops onto hard surfaces. Shooting on the move while dropping empties is no problem with the UNIT9. The UNIT9 can give you 3- to 4-inch groups at 15 meters with non-marking rounds, competitive with the accuracy profile of converted weapon systems at CQB distances.
How the system works in practice
To start, lock the follower in the down position, twist to open the two-piece magazine, drop 15 marking or non-marking rounds into the slot, screw in a CO2 cartridge, reassemble, then release the follower. For blanks or simulated training, the follower is left in the down position to prevent slide lockback (or let the slide lock to practice reloads).
Rounds can be purchased in 600- and 1,200-round value packs, or in blank format in quantities of 1,000 or 2,000 cycles. For each 8-gram CO2 cylinder, users should expect to fire 25 shots of full energy with slide lock after shot 25. Note that a mag full of blank rounds just has a CO2 cylinder loaded without projectiles and you can switch between blanks, marking and non-marking rounds without having to discharge and recharge the mag.
Two preconfigured bundles are available for law enforcement to get started with the system and include four pistols, 12 mags and 5,000 mixed rounds, or 10 pistols, 20 mags and 12,000 mixed rounds. A third bundle combines eight UNIT9 Pistols and four UNIT4 Rifles into one case.
Compare the cost per round of the UNIT9 value packs to traditional simulated ammunition systems, and your agency accountant will laugh all the way to the bank: 4 cents per blank, 7 cents per non-marking round and 18 cents per marking round. Over a single force-on-force training day using 500 total rounds, the cost difference is startling: $35 for UNIT non-marking ammo compared to $500 or more for legacy platforms. And that’s before accounting for the time to convert systems and the wear and tear on duty pistols.
The UNIT9 also seamlessly transitions between simulated training and live environments with its blank TPAKs. With the UNIT9’s laser barrel and a handful of Laser Ammo iMTTS targets, your problem students can take on extra practice during downtime hours or at home, without any risk of a live weapon being used for practice. The UNIT9 is also compatible with Laser Ammo’s CQB in a Box and Smokeless Range, in addition to the suite of simulated training products offered by MILO, allowing departments to enhance the realism when using simulated training aids.
One gun, multiple ways to train
Speaking of force-on-force, not all agencies have access to a shoot house, and I can guarantee your officers don’t have one at home.
In addition to learning and practicing basic skills, a realistic room-clearing or hostage scenario can be set up nearly anywhere with the UNIT9 pistol and a couple of targets or a martial arts dummy — and we did just that using a closet.
I brought the UNIT9 pistol with Holosun RDS to Ephraim Cheever, a law-enforcement trainer at Saber Tactics. After shooting at Bob — Saber Tactic’s martial arts dummy — Cheever’s first comment was, “This pistol is accurate, with a realistic and slightly better trigger than the stock trigger on a comparable pistol.”
We next emptied out a storage closet and taped a cardboard target to the back wall to play the part of a hostage taker with Bob as our hostage. Nick Suslow, Saber Tactic’s other trainer and a former full-time San Francisco SWAT assistant team lead, was tasked with clearing the closet from two sides — open door on the hinge side and closed door on the opposite side.
Check out the videos for how realistic the hostage saves are.
Final assessment
The math favors the UNIT9 Compact: equivalent training realism at roughly a tenth of the per-round cost, a dedicated trainer that removes the risk of live ammo and a domestic supply chain that is not exposed to import bottlenecks that have repeatedly left agencies waiting on marking cartridges.
To sum up, the UNIT9 pistol is realistic, compatible with your in-house pistol accessories, can be used with marking or non-marking rounds and multiple brands of lasers — and the mags can be dropped onto concrete without damage.
Don’t have access to a shoot house? Need to train in the community with role players? Want to send officers home with a training pistol to hone their skills? Yeah, all of these are supported with the UNIT9 pistol.
Add it all up, and it becomes obvious that the new standard for non-lethal training has arrived.
For more information on UNIT9 pistols or UNIT4 rifles, visit UNIT Solutions.
