Dry Practice Version II

This weeks blog post is a guest post, from OnTheLoose who has commented on a couple of the blog posts.  He makes a lot of sense, and is quite the expert in not only performance with a handgun, but in teaching safe gun practice.


Dry Practice Version II


Thanks for the clear call-out that this is NOT 'dry fire' practice. 'Fire' sets up the wrong connotation/expectation.
It helps me to think about the goal of dry practice when I am doing it. The goal is to smoothly and quickly attain a good master grip on the firearm, bring it up to point at the target, achieve good sight alignment and sight picture on that target and then work through the trigger. If you are only into target practice and plinking, then the ‘quickly’ part is not as important, however being fast is important for defensive and competitive shooters.

So, how can dry practice make you better? You can’t see your shots on paper so how can you judge your accuracy??? – Watch your sights. This is especially true of your front sight. See what the sights do while you press your way through the trigger. Watch what they do during the millisecond that the trigger ‘breaks’ and you can see where the sights were in relation to the target, which is where the pretend bullet went when it left the barrel. You should learn to ‘call your own shots’. Did you jerk the trigger to the side at the last second? Did you nose dive from pulling the trigger too hard? Do your thumbs put too much force on the side as you prepare to flinch from the impending explosion??? -- Okay, the last is more likely to happen when using live rounds at the range, but being able to call your shots (‘where the sights were when the trigger broke’) works great in dry practice AND at the range. In fact, competitors in high speed matches who are engaging far away targets can’t wait to stop and see if they got the hit (even if they can even see the hole in the target at all from that distance!). They need to know they got the hit and move on – or slow down to take another shot. Also, being able to call your shots is important in defensive situations too. Knowing you are hitting center of mass and the bad guy is still trying to kill you means you need to switch your point of aim to more sensitive areas. – Not playing fast sports or defending your life? Calling your shots is still critical to diagnosing accuracy problems while plinking at the range for fun.

Also, dry practice is a great time to work on malfunction clearance drills. Know the three types and be able to do them without thinking about it. (The same three general types affect most firearms: Google ‘type 1, 2, 3 firearm malfunctions’ – or ask Dave to do a blog on them). Do all three during a session or one per session or whatever works for you. Tactical reloads (swapping magazines or adding shells) and emergency reloads (firearm is empty and the slide is locked back on most semiautomatic firearms) are also great to practice, even if not a competitive shooter or saving a life. 

Also, using a timer is a great way for both competitive shooters and defensive shooters to get faster. Start slow as Dave suggested, but once you get smooth, try to speed up some and you'll find what you need to practice. A count-down timer with a beep to tell if you made it in time or not is all you need -- but a delayed-start timer or smartphone app (search ‘shot timer’) really helps (the start beep starts a few second after you hit the button, so you can be in a neutral/ready position when the start beep sounds). 

The blog also mentioned the '4 rules' of safety. You need to honor those all the time, every time -- even with an empty gun and all the ammo out of the room. (It is a best practice to clear the room of all ammo during dry practice. Check your pockets, unload all the mags in the room, etc... – No rounds in the same room as dry practice!!!) 

I too don't dry practice enough. And, I know I am not going to get better until I do.

 

Let’s all prepare for dry practice and do 10-15 minutes every day!

Thanks again for the great blog, Dave!

As always, remember the four rules.

DaveJ

Dry Practice

Shooting Practice

How do you get better at something?

Practice.

You’ve all heard it.

“Practice makes perfect.”

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.”

“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is practice.”

And it’s true. The only thing I would change is that it’s not practice that makes perfect, it’s perfect practice. Practicing crappy makes for crappy performance.

What does this have to do with shooting?

Everything.

You can’t get better at shooting without practicing your shooting. Some form of practice 2-3 times per week will have you shooting wildly better than you are now in just a few short months. (You know, February, April, June. The short months.) You just have to do it.

But it’s hard to get to the range or to your favorite shooting spot that many times a week. Especially if you add in the driving times, the expense if it’s an hourly range, the cost of ammunition, the list of chores your husband or wife have for you, spending time with those pesky kids, etc.

That brings us to dry practice. You might hear that referred to dry fire practice, but since there’s no firing, it’s really just dry practice. I have also heard it referred to as ammo free practice. All of them mean the same thing. Presenting your weapon, getting a great sight picture, and pressing the trigger to get a click.

It doesn’t matter what sort of rifle, pistol, revolver, or shotgun you are using, it’s the same. Only the distances involved really change much. Most people dry practice with pistols, but you can dry practice with a rifle or shotgun, perhaps in the garage for a longer fetch. I will continue the discussion as if it were handgun.

So how do you dry practice?

First, remember that safety is paramount. Remember that the four rules of safety apply to dry practice just as much as they do to range practice or unfortunate encounter.

Put up a target. Do NOT use something that is there permanently. The memory of dry practice can cause an unfortunate incident. I use a pink Post It® note. Then I take it down and throw it away. It’s full of virtual holes anyway.

Then decide how long you are going to practice. Set your phones off for that period of time. Put the spouse and children on silent mode. (Explain to them if that’s a problem that you are doing something to protect them.)

Then practice. 

I recommend that you practice the fundamentals of your presentation first, and slowly. At least ten repetitions of presenting your weapon until you have a good sight picture with your finger on the trigger, and take a smooth trigger press. Do this until you are smooth, then speed up. Do take the press to a click though. You should never waste a trigger press.

As you practice more and more, you get smoother, and with smoother comes faster. But even if you are a grand master, start slow when dry practicing. Then when smooth, speed up.

If you find yourself hurrying, or getting frustrated, stop the dry practice. You can’t do perfect practice under those conditions.

I only practice for 15 minutes at a time, and that’s enough if you do it regularly. Alas, I don’t. So I am aiming this at me. Do it regularly.

When you are done with the time you have set:

• Tell yourself that dry practice is over.
• Take down your temporary target.
• Get your gun back in the condition you want it to be in.
• Turn the volume back up on your cell phone and kids.
• Turn your spouse back on.

There you have it.

Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

Remember the four rules,

DaveJ

 

Gun Storage

Gun Storage

All guns need to be stored securely. You know that, I know that, lawyers know that. The question becomes a little muddy when the discussion of what that means comes up.

These are my ideas of storage. In this case, I really would like some other opinions in the comments, so please fire away. (Safely, of course. J )

For storage to be useful, it must be secured in some fashion, but be accessible when the need arises. Well, then what does it mean to be secured? And what does accessible mean?

Secured to me means unable to be fired unless I want it to be fired, be safe from the elements (even inside the man cave, there are elements: humidity, heat, cold, etc.), and reasonably hard to steal.

So for a Glock, that might mean a good holster, at your hip, ready to defend yourself if the need arises. Most people don’t consider that secure. With proper training, I do. It is definitely accessible.

How about some other methods of securing your weapon.

Trigger locks:

Picture Overstock.com

Don’t use these. They can actually cause a negligent discharge. If there is a mag in, a round chambered, and the gun in battery, a slam on the lock can fire the weapon.

Cable locks:

Picture AmherstPD.blogspot.com

These work. There is no way to get a mag in there, chamber a round, and have the gun in battery. Drawback, you need to have a key or combination to get the gun in working condition. Not too accessible.

Magazine locks:

Picture Franzenint.com

Also an effective lock, but mostly for ARs as near as I can tell. Same benefits and issues as with cable locks.

Gun Safes:

No pictures, because there are hundreds of options. Ranging in price from $19.95 for a one gun with a key and a cable to tie it down up to $15,000 for a fireproof large safe with humidity control. You could go even further with custom building, or even a gun room. (Drool.)

The pros to a gun safe are myriad. They fit your needs exactly. They can be very secure. They can hold lots of guns. They can protect your guns from the elements. They can be placed strategically around the house as needed. You can get the gun out quickly if needed, provided you have them strategically placed and of the right type.

The cons? $$$-$$$$$ or so.

Why should you worry about this?

Keeping your investment safe from things is the one that comes to mind first, but the more important reason is liability.

Personal liability comes in a couple of flavors. The first is the one we think about. A gun is stolen from an unsecured place, and then is used to injure someone in some way. Guess who is going to be sued? That’s a big concern.

Emotional liability is worse, in my humble opinion.

A gun that you didn’t secure well is taken by your favorite nephew. He’s been bullied at school this year. And last year. And the year before that, etc. He’s had enough. He takes the gun, finds the ammo, and ends his life after writing a heart stabbing note.

How do you feel?

Yes, that bad.

I am positive you can come up with other scenarios just as likely to cause you pain for the rest of your life. Secure your weapons appropriately.

Best regards, and keep the four rules,

DaveJ