Question about dry fire practice?????

[acosenza2]

I don't think I really get it, or what I am supposed to get from it I suppose. I know that I push the gun in anticipation of the bang but I only do that with ammo in the gun. I don't do that when dry firing.

Maybe I do it wrong I don't know. I release the slide on an empty chamber (empty mag also) and then concentrate on keeping the sights on a certain point and pull the trigger. Once I pull the trigger I look to see if my sights are still on the spot. They are of course, because the gun is empty and there is no recoil.

Is this what I am attempting to accomplish?

Thanks in advance guys. I have never understood the theory so I appreciate whatever you have.

[ByblosHex]

Practice holding it, drawing it and trigger control. Try pulling the trigger to the bang point while balancing a coin on the end of the barrel.

Practice makes perfect. Even without live ammunition you're training your muscle memory to do the right thing if youre doing it right.

[Tomcat088]

I don't think I really get it, or what I am supposed to get from it I suppose. I know that I push the gun in anticipation of the bang but I only do that with ammo in the gun. I don't do that when dry firing.

Maybe I do it wrong I don't know. I release the slide on an empty chamber (empty mag also) and then concentrate on keeping the sights on a certain point and pull the trigger. Once I pull the trigger I look to see if my sights are still on the spot. They are of course, because the gun is empty and there is no recoil.

Is this what I am attempting to accomplish?

Thanks in advance guys. I have never understood the theory so I appreciate whatever you have.

It's about muscle memory, and it's a cheap way to build it. You aren't trying to train staying on target during/after recoil. You're trying to train your muscles and brain to pull the trigger properly every time. You aren't flinching or anticipating recoil because there isn't ammunition in the firearm, no push, and no loud noises. Eventually, you'll train yourself to pull the trigger properly, and it helps to stop anticipating recoil. I believe anticipation of recoil is a psychological thing, but the brain gets accustomed to pulling the trigger right. Their neural pathway gets encouraged, and it kind of "tricks" the mind into not worrying about it, and the recoil not having as great of an effect. Working on your follow through, holding the trigger back to the rear and staying or attempting to stay on target great helps with the effects of recoil as well. It's just good feedback to pull the trigger properly, and learn how to break the trigger without moving the sights off target.

As Bybloshex said, you don't just have to practice your trigger pull. You can practice other things repetitiously at the same time and build them into muscle memory as well. Dry firing is just a good cheap way to get reps in, and teach yourself to do it "so right that you can't do it wrong," even when there's live ammo in the pistol. Does that make any sense?

[Gun]

The index finger has to work separately from the other three fingers that are already gripping the gun. That three finger grip should be applied with the same force, whether dry firing, or actual firing of ammo. Mistake most make, is that because there is no recoil during dry firing, the grip might be relaxed, which doesn’t accomplish anything. So grip the gun almost to the point where your hand starts to shake, during dry or live firing.


It is cheaper to dry fire, and buy some snap-caps to practice with.

[Iron Sights]

Try taking an empty medium(?) plastic drinking cup in your hand as if it was the gun’s handle. Squeeze as if you were pulling the trigger. Take notice of how your other fingers react. As previously mentioned, only your trigger finger should move. This is just the beginning of training like “Gun” mentioned.

"Gun" Tried to +1 rep for the advice but the site wouldn't let me. Good advice!

[Shawn.L]

your getting some good info here, but I will add:

There is A LOT you can do dry. From reloads with snap caps and PAR time's on a timer, to drawstroke practice (you should have a known process for getting the gun from the holster to the target index first) , to trigger control , sight alignment, and visual practice.

Upon reading your post Id like to elaborate that you should try not pressing the trigger and then confirming the sights but instead try pressing the trigger with NO TARGET and watching the front sight all the way through and looking for any little move in the rear notch. This way you will be truly looking for a clean trigger press (not just no dip but solid sight alignment all the way through) and also teaching yourslef what the sights should look like as the trigger is pressed. The hope is that you can learn to watch the sights lift up off the target under recoil when going to live fire.

Beyonf that there is visualization practice you can do where you can draw with closed eyes and visualize the sights alighned and upon your eyes to see them, and so on.

I also like to do dry shooting on the move just looking to move and keep my sights steady enough.

check these out:
http://www.predatortactical.com/cart...se_detail&id=5

[acosenza2]

Thanks a lot everyone! You guys have given me great info here and have helped me to figure out why I was sitting in the living room dry firing. I really do appreciate you all clearing it up and giving some great resources.

[Yoder]

Here's a link to a great book on dry firing. It's meant more for competitive shooting but the drills are great practice even if you don't have a timer.

http://www.brianenos.com/pages/reviews.html#steve

[Valorius]

I don't think I really get it, or what I am supposed to get from it I suppose. I know that I push the gun in anticipation of the bang but I only do that with ammo in the gun. I don't do that when dry firing.

Maybe I do it wrong I don't know. I release the slide on an empty chamber (empty mag also) and then concentrate on keeping the sights on a certain point and pull the trigger. Once I pull the trigger I look to see if my sights are still on the spot. They are of course, because the gun is empty and there is no recoil.

Is this what I am attempting to accomplish?

Thanks in advance guys. I have never understood the theory so I appreciate whatever you have.

You want your sights to remain utterly motionless throughout the dry fire process.

As in, you could stand a dime on the slide and it won't fall over when you drop the hammer. The point of doing it without ammo is that you won't develop or be hindered by a flinch of any kind. This allows you to develop perfect trigger control without even firing live ammo, and without any distractions.

PS: A laser of any kind is a tremendous dry fire training aid.

[acosenza2]

You want your sights to remain utterly motionless throughout the dry fire process.

As in, you could stand a dime on the slide and it won't fall over when you drop the hammer. The point of doing it without ammo is that you won't develop or be hindered by a flinch of any kind. This allows you to perfect trigger control without even firing live ammo, and without any distractions.

PS: A laser of any kind is a tremendous dry fire training aid.

A laser isn't a bad idea. I have a laser that is utterly useless (it was a cheapo), but would be just fine for dry fire practice. Thanks for that tip.