The Byrna is a “Beautiful Tool.”
What to know about Byrna Launchers as a self-defense weapon.
Founder of MS Firearms Training in Enumclaw, Washington, Michelle Smith has been an NRA-certified basic pistol instructor for eight years. She runs weekly women’s classes, co-ed classes, and youth classes (with the attendance of a legal guardian), along with offering personal training sessions.
Her passion is to help people get comfortable with their firearms as safe and responsible gun owners. Mrs. Smith is a certified Range Safety Officer. Having been introduced to Byrna Launchers by NW Safe, she assisted during our inaugural Byrna Range Day.
As a firearms instructor, the following are some of her insights into this personal defense product, the benefits it offers, the limitations she sees, and how she recommends storing your Byrna.
Q&A with Certified Firearms Instructor Michelle Smith
What were your first impressions of the Byrna?
Michelle: Beautiful tool. It works flawlessly and is a great way to train. I'm a firearms instructor. Obviously, I love guns. But I think there's a place for all types of self-defense tools. And I think that the Byrna is a great addition to your collection of self-defense tools.
It's a great way to get that muscle memory going for any type of firearm that you're going to use. If you have an actual gun, the Byrna is a great way to keep that muscle memory alive. For your grip. Your good trigger squeeze. Aiming. All the fundamentals of shooting transfer right over to that Byrna.
Also, it's a great thing to have on you if you can't have a gun on you. There are places where I can't have a gun on me. So Byrna is a great tool to have if you cannot have an actual firearm on you for some reason. I love it.
Do you see the Byrna having any limitations?
Michelle: Not enough rounds per mag. I get it. The rounds are bigger. But I want more rounds available. Because you may miss a couple of times, right? If you're stressed out and shaking you may miss.
With an actual firearm, training is key. With the Byrna, training is key. You have to keep training so that you are accurate. Because you're not going to be as accurate under stress, right?
The other thing that I found, especially when working with the ladies here during the NW Safe Range Day, was that the grip is big. And again, I get that the magazines are bigger. The rounds are bigger. But for smaller-handed people, which a lot of women are, it's kind of hard to reach that trigger with the bigger grip.
Do you have any safety and training recommendations?
Michelle: When you load the first CO2, the very first trigger pull is long. It's harder because that trigger pull has to puncture the back of the CO2. So that first trigger pull is hard. And I noticed when we did our demo day that some of the women were like, “Oh, I can't even pull the trigger.”
I said, “You've got to really pull that the first time.”
But after that, that trigger pull is pretty good. It's pretty easy to get that trigger pulled and there's no recoil. So the beauty of it is that it doesn't startle you. Your brain doesn't mess with you thinking there's going to be this big bang.
It's just a great tool to train with, even if you own regular firearms. Because you're getting all that muscle memory of a smooth trigger squeeze, proper grip, front sight, rear sight. All the fundamentals for actual firearms transfer right over to this. So yeah, I think it's a great training tool.
How should you store a Byrna launcher?
Even though it’s less lethal, it can still hurt somebody. So your Byrna should be in a safe. It should be inaccessible to anyone who shouldn’t have access to it. If you have kids in your house, if a child gets your Byrna, they can hurt themselves.
If you have pepper rounds in there, they could do some damage with that. Those projectiles are fast, and they land hard. They can really hurt a person…so yeah, I believe it should be secured as well.
But whatever safe you get to secure a firearm or Byrna, practice opening that puppy over and over again. Do little drills. Press that combo and have it pop open fast. You need to get to that firearm, that tool, that Byrna, whatever it is — fast. So that should be part of your training too.