Dry fire tips

[j1133s]

Hi,

In the wake of anti-Asian violence; I've decided to retrieve a pistol out of my safe and arm myself at home. (It's been many years since I opened my gun safe.)

To my surprise, ammo is impossible to come by these days. Fortunately I still have some SD ammo and was able liberate a few of them at a range.

I think I'll have to be satisfied with just dry fire practice until this ammo shortage is resolved.

Let's share some dry fire tips.

[9Cal_OC]

Some good tips in this thread:

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1534299&highlight=Dry+fire

[rodralig]

Hi,

In the wake of anti-Asian violence; I've decided to retrieve a pistol out of my safe and arm myself at home. (It's been many years since I opened my gun safe.)

To my surprise, ammo is impossible to come by these days. Fortunately I still have some SD ammo and was able liberate a few of them at a range.

I think I'll have to be satisfied with just dry fire practice until this ammo shortage is resolved.

Let's share some dry fire tips.

_

[Mustard]

_

I'm going to disagree (for now) with Refinement and Repetition, as most of the drills are probably at a expertise level and discipline (competitive shooting vs home defense) that exceeds what OP needs at this stage. Better than nothing, but not HD specific.

Of course, I'm making an assumption that OP is not super familiar with HD + hand guns, given he's taking his HD pistol out of a safe that's not been opened in years. ***maybe he should stick with firearms he's more familiar with for primary HD?***

I'd start you out with:
1) draw from holster, present to sight alignment/picture, squeeze the trigger without disturbing your sights. Perform this against IDPA style or human outline targets at various ranges around your house (across the room, to longest hallway). Bonus points for buying scaled down targets to simulate longer ranges

1a) when you get that down, work up to where you think you'll stage your weapon. Nightstand? Drawer in nightstand? Lay in bed, and on the "go" signal, retrieve your weapon and execute #1.

2) magazine changes, from pouch or pocket. Speed, and tactical reloads. Get it until you can do it with your eyes closed.

3) malfunction clearances

That's basically FrontSight 2-day or 4-day defensive handgun. If you are able to find ammo, take some classes too.

Do some research on HD scenarios/theories too. Low/no-light. Staging your weapon. Other things besides guns to make your home safer (lights, alarms, dogs, locks, security gates).

[T3Pros]

We recommend this basic, 30 day dry fire routine.

SHO = strong hand only
WHO = weak hand only
2H = both hands
press out = count 3 of a 4 count draw/compressed ready

https://pistol-training.com/archives/5185

We also recommend taking a class with us to learn how to practice correctly;-)

[HKAllTheThings]

That Steve Anderson book brings back a lot of memories. Good stuff.

[Munny$hot]

Not sure on your skill level, but I'd start with the fundamentals of marksmanship. There are a lot of great YouTube videos that may help. Check out Modern Samurai Project, he goes over grip, stance, presentation, sight acquirement, wasted movement etc that will be beneficial to learn/relearn. Things I'd stay away from is laser that activate every time the trigger is pressed, because you start to look for it vs front sight focus or racking your slide every time you pull the trigger which can also lead to training scares. A free trick is to use a wedge of paper between the breach face and hood of the barrel on most guns to simulate a resetting trigger works for most striker fire or DA/SA pistols.

[hambam105]

Before starting the dry fire exercise make sure to unload the gun.

[j1133s]

Some good tips in this thread:

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/...light=Dry+fire

Interesting read. To dry fire Glocks for just trigger control, I recommend just pulling the trigger without resetting it. You get almost all the benefits of trigger dry firing without the hassle of cocking it every round. Makes dry firing a Glock pretty easy.

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

I'm going to disagree (for now) with Refinement and Repetition, as most of the drills are probably at a expertise level and discipline (competitive shooting vs home defense) that exceeds what OP needs at this stage. Better than nothing, but not HD specific.

Are the fundamentals of shooting different between HD and competitive pistol shooting?

Interesting read. To dry fire Glocks for just trigger control, I recommend just pulling the trigger without resetting it. You get almost all the benefits of trigger dry firing without the hassle of cocking it every round. Makes dry firing a Glock pretty easy.

You can try sticking a thin piece of paper in ejection port on the right side where the barrel and slide meet near the extractor. This will make the trigger "reset" for dry fire. It will not feel like a regular Glock trigger, but it will allow you to be able to practice a draw or multiple trigger presses with a trigger that doesn't feel dead.

[j1133s]

I'm going to disagree (for now) with Refinement and Repetition, as most of the drills are probably at a expertise level and discipline (competitive shooting vs home defense) that exceeds what OP needs at this stage. Better than nothing, but not HD specific.

Of course, I'm making an assumption that OP is not super familiar with HD + hand guns, given he's taking his HD pistol out of a safe that's not been opened in years. ***maybe he should stick with firearms he's more familiar with for primary HD?***

I'd start you out with:
1) draw from holster, present to sight alignment/picture, squeeze the trigger without disturbing your sights. Perform this against IDPA style or human outline targets at various ranges around your house (across the room, to longest hallway). Bonus points for buying scaled down targets to simulate longer ranges

1a) when you get that down, work up to where you think you'll stage your weapon. Nightstand? Drawer in nightstand? Lay in bed, and on the "go" signal, retrieve your weapon and execute #1.

2) magazine changes, from pouch or pocket. Speed, and tactical reloads. Get it until you can do it with your eyes closed.

3) malfunction clearances

That's basically FrontSight 2-day or 4-day defensive handgun. If you are able to find ammo, take some classes too.

Do some research on HD scenarios/theories too. Low/no-light. Staging your weapon. Other things besides guns to make your home safer (lights, alarms, dogs, locks, security gates).

Thanks for the tips. They definitely reminded me of several things: light for positive target identification.

I don't think I'm going to keep a spare mag; it'll just be 11-rnds. I know I'll be giving up some malfunction capabilities, but I figure better keep it simple and working vs complicated and confusing.

I'd really just prefer to use a shotgun, but I couldn't find any buckshots. The pistol is the only gun with the appropriate ammo, so it'll have to do.

Wearing it at home is a possibility; but for now, I plan to just buy a small safe and keep it locked up somewhere as I have kids at home.

[j1133s]

We recommend this basic, 30 day dry fire routine.

SHO = strong hand only
WHO = weak hand only
2H = both hands
press out = count 3 of a 4 count draw/compressed ready

https://pistol-training.com/archives/5185

We also recommend taking a class with us to learn how to practice correctly;-)

Thanks; your routine seems very detailed.

Weak hand drill is definitely useful; I've forgotten about that. Which reminds me that I've forgotten to do limp wrist checks on the gun/ammo at the range (should have posted before my range trip).

[tacticalcity]

TIPS I WAS GIVEN WHEN I ASKED THIS QUESTION YEARS AGO

Make sure not only is the gun unloaded, that there is no ammo in the same room. Some recommend having a designated room in the house where you do your dry fire practice, which makes it easier to make sure ammo never enters that room.

Do not leave a target up on the wall. If you want to shoot at a target, put it up when using it, take it down when not? Why? People will get the habit of shooting at that target when dry firing. Then, spaced out, do it accidentally when loaded. Or so I've been told.

Make sure the wall you are aiming at, doesn't have anyone behind it. Remember, all guns are loaded even when they are not. So if you're wrong, you want to be sure nobody gets hurt.

Basically, follow all the safety rules even though you think it's empty.

Oh...Don't dry fire a rim fire gun without a snap cap.

PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION

If the goal is to practice trigger control and sight alignment then a SIRT gun is good. Especially if it is the same model as the gun you have. I was given a SIRT gun patterned after a Glock. The slide doesn't rack. But the trigger is darn close, and the sights are the same. Using this to practice trigger control and sight alignment is good because the laser instantly tells you if you jerked the trigger. It bounces and moves when you bounce and move. That alone is extremely useful. It is also useful when practicing your draw. The weight is about the same and shape is about the same. So it will fit in your holster and feel like the real thing. The magazine is removeable and weighted so you can do mag changes if you buy more than one mag. They have reactive targets for them. That buzz, lightup, and or pop and drop when you shoot them. It's expensive, but useful. It is also fun. Feels a bit like the carnival games at the fair. Except you're learning something useful.

Here is the website to the company that makes these: https://nextleveltraining.com/

[j1133s]

Not sure on your skill level, but I'd start with the fundamentals of marksmanship. There are a lot of great YouTube videos that may help. Check out Modern Samurai Project, he goes over grip, stance, presentation, sight acquirement, wasted movement etc that will be beneficial to learn/relearn. Things I'd stay away from is laser that activate every time the trigger is pressed, because you start to look for it vs front sight focus or racking your slide every time you pull the trigger which can also lead to training scares. A free trick is to use a wedge of paper between the breach face and hood of the barrel on most guns to simulate a resetting trigger works for most striker fire or DA/SA pistols.

I'm OK with the fundamentals of marksmanship, but more practice can't hurt. I love sport shooting, my favorites are action pistols, NRA high power/bullseye/silhouette, ATA trap, various steel matches.

I think my last action pistol was this one:

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=318988

I go thru periods of not shooting. I didn't even know I still own so many guns

After years of 1911s and Glocks, I don't need the trigger to reset to practice, but thanks for the tip as others may need it.

[rodralig]

Are the fundamentals of shooting different between HD and competitive pistol shooting?

I'm going to disagree (for now) with Refinement and Repetition, as most of the drills are probably at a expertise level and discipline (competitive shooting vs home defense) that exceeds what OP needs at this stage. Better than nothing, but not HD specific.

@Mustard - Not for the first 10-something drills, which are basically marksmanship fundamentals. Draw (from various starting positions) + target indexing (your eyes look, your gun follows) + strong hand + weak hand + reloads. Except for the Turn & Draw drill, there is no movement.

That said - Ben goes on how to practice dry fire in his book... What to watch out for, etc. So...

The only thing I would add to these is the White Wall Drill, seemingly from Ben Stoeger, to practice grip, trigger control and a compressed break.

To get back at you for what you said to me, "... everything is a fundamental of shooting..." Remember?


_