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.
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
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