DRYFIRE PISTOL PRACTICE AT HOME
Welcome back 12th Gunners! Today we are going to talk about Dry Fire Pistol Practice at home. If you are not dry firing at home, you are missing out! Dryfire is an excellent way to practice daily without the cost and hassle of going to the range. It is easy to do and doesn’t have to cost much at all. If you are like everyone else in the real world you are feeling it right now on the old budget.
With the price of gas, groceries, and ammo these days a lot of people are cutting out extras. Extras like range sessions and ammo. Look I get it no judgement here. You have got to make ends meet.
Unfortunately, proper marksmanship technique and the muscle memory involved in shooting are both perishable skills. I know this because after 11 years in the Marine Corps Infantry I took a break. I started a family and things became more important to me than shooting all the time. A few years later I was shooting with a buddy and realized I was not as good as I used to be. My body and mind forgot the subtle things in marksmanship that make all the difference. The good news is with some regular practice it comes back pretty quick.
So how do you balance giving up those regular sessions at the range with staying proficient? Dryfiring is your solution. It costs nothing to sit at home and pull your trigger and rack your slide. If you spend a few minutes everyday or even every week practicing with your weapons you will get better. It doesn’t cost you much more than a couple of snap caps and your time.
There are a lot of reasons to own guns. Maybe you like to just go to the range and plink. Some of you might have them for hunting purposes. Others for home protection and even some who carry every day for personal protection. In each of those situations you should want to be as proficient as possible. Even if you go to the range often still, mix in some dryfire at home. I promise it will pay dividends.
As a Marine at boot camp, you shoot a lot and I mean A LOT. For 2 of the 13 weeks, you exist only to shoot. You spend hours leading up to this behind a rifle “snapping in”. Aiming at white 55-gallon drums with little targets painted all over them. In various positions you dryfire over and over thinking about nothing but your shots. This is before you ever fire the first live round. Marines are better at shooting for a reason. PRACTICE.
The US Armed Forces and the Air Force (just kidding AF you count too ????) aren’t some of the best in the world by chance. We are the best because we have a massive budget for training. It really is not any more complicated than that. The US Military spends a lot of time and energy in TRAINING. If you do something over and over again you get more proficient at it.
Back to dryfiring. There are a couple of things you might want to get. I recommend buying some snap caps or using old brass. I prefer snap caps because they are bright and look nothing like brass. The last thing I want to do is blow a hole in my wall or TV. That is all you really need to get started. Some firearms can wear out quicker over time if the firing pin isn’t making contact with anything.
Now there are a lot of other gadgets you can get as well. I’m a gadget person with a bit of a “competitive spirit” so I have upped my game. I went out and bought a MantisX 10 Elite. This thing is one amazing gadget. It attaches on the rail on my pistol and gives me direct feedback and data on how I’m shooting. It tells me if I’m gripping too tight, breaking my wrists up or down, too much trigger finger and more. Easy to read charts with videos and gifs that tell you how to correct your problems.
Track your movements before, during, and after trigger pull
Get real feedback on how and what to improve
In addition to all of that, you have the drills. Tons of good drills to keep you in tune. Timed drills, reloading drills, hostage drills, and surprise break drills. The holster analysis tool is amazing. It tells you how long it takes from holster to shot, but it also breaks down the segments. Starting with grip it tells you how long to go vertical, then horizontal push, and trigger pull. The thing I like most about it is the MantisX tells me exactly what to focus on to improve.
The good news is it also works with Live ammo and not just with pistols. This means I can use it to help my students at 12thGun.com You can put it on a rifle, shotgun and even a bow and arrow. You just need to change the settings in the app. I’ve really enjoyed using it and highly recommend it. In the first week I shot over 1000 shots with it and just the ammo alone would have been way more than the cost of the device. Check them out here MantisX to explore all of their training tools.
Even if you don’t want to get a training aid, you will still benefit from the trigger time. Completely unload and clear your weapon, put in some snap caps and then get started. Spend the time focusing on your grip, your trigger pull, and your sight picture and sight alignment. Your grip should be tight but not a white knuckled death grip. Finger placement should be in the center between your tip and first joint. Pulling straight back with the trigger finger alone focus on keeping your other fingers the same. Focus on the front sight with a blurry target in the rear. Let the shot surprise you when the trigger breaks.
If you are an everyday carry person then go farther and practice drawing over and over from your holster. If you’ve never tried to do it in a hurry, you will be shocked at how hard it is. Man, I didn’t lift my shirt up high enough. Dang, I grabbed it wrong that time and had to readjust my grip. Crap I forgot the safety! Those are all things you will get faster and better at with practice. You don’t want to figure those out mid issue if you get my drift.
So go get you some snap caps, maybe even a MantisX and start getting better. It doesn’t take much time or money and you will see gains almost immediately. Commit ten minutes every week or 150 shots a day like I do. You will be shocked at how much you improve.
Y’all stay safe out there!
