The Benefits of Dry Fire Training

When it comes to mastering firearm skills, both dry fire and live fire training play crucial roles in enhancing weapon system confidence and handling. Each training method offers unique benefits and, when combined effectively, they provide a comprehensive approach to developing proficiency with a firearm. This blog post explores why dry fire training is essential for improving shooting performance and ensuring safety. I will explore other training techniques in follow up posts. But first we need to discuss safety.

Safety First

I think it is important to remind everyone that safe handling of firearms is mandatory. Because dry fire training makes it impossible to “keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot”, it is critical to follow the rest of the rules of safe gun handling to the extreme. For those of you who can’t remember the rules and are still alive to read this, let’s review.

1. Treat every gun as if it is loaded.
2. Always point your gun at a safe direction
3. Never point your gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot
4. Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot
5. Be sure of your target and what is beyond

Each one of the rules above should keep you safe by itself, so layering them all together constitutes an abundance of caution. When handling firearms, we can all agree that caution should be in abundance.

Dry Fire Training: Building Skills Without Ammunition

Dry fire training involves practicing shooting techniques with an unloaded firearm. This method allows shooters to refine their skills without the expense and logistics associated with live ammunition. Here are several reasons why dry fire training is vital:

Reinforcement of Muscle Memory:

 Repeated dry fire practice helps build muscle memory. By consistently practicing correct movements and responses, shooters can develop automaticity, which is crucial for both competitive shooting and defensive scenarios. Muscle memory is important not only for shooting technique, but also for manipulating the firearm itself, drawing from and returning the firearm to your holster, different types of magazine changes, clearing a malfunctioned firearm, body stance, and many other aspects.

1. Building muscle memory allows for proper stance, handling, and shooting motions to become second nature. Refining fundamentals serve to build upon the recoil management inherent to our Imperium 9C slide. Remember when you are practicing, whether dry firing or live firing, go through the motions slowly, methodically, and perfectly. It does not do you any good to repeat the wrong motion repeatedly, teaching incorrect muscle memory. Go slowly and remember, “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”
2. Operations and mechanics of your gun. The more you handle your firearm the better acquainted you become with its controls like the slide release, safety, take down mechanisms, magazine release, inserting magazines in your mag well without taking your eyes off target, and other functions. These are all important operations that muscle memory will assist with in times of low light, high stress, or unfamiliar situations.
3. More than your gun. Muscle memory is important for shooting and manipulating your gun, but it is also important for reloading, drawing both your gun and magazines form their holsters, returning them to their holster, clearing malfunctions, and a myriad of other practical drills. All these are done in a more controlled environment, safer, and cheaper with dryfiring.
4. Observe from afar. Often, we think we are doing it right. I can’t tell you how many times I have looked at someone at the gym and though, you look ridiculous, then noticing myself in the mirror doing the same thing. The same goes for shooting. When you practice, film yourself or have a friend observe. Again, if you’re practicing the wrong techniques, you are not going to get better, you’re just going to get better at doing it wrong.

Skill Development:

Dry fire practice focuses on improving fundamental skills such as trigger control, sight alignment, and grip. Since there's no recoil or noise to distract the shooter, it’s easier to concentrate on technique and make necessary adjustments. When shooting with live ammunition, it is difficult to see the movement of your gun as you pull the trigger. Dry firing allows you to go through the trigger pull motion while concentrating on your sites. Some points to analyze while dry firing is:

1. Movement of the gun while you are pulling the trigger. A gun that twists off the target while pulling the trigger indicates poor grip technique, poor trigger pull technique, or both.
2. After the hammer drops or striker is released, what does the gun do? Does it stay on target? If it doesn’t, try to ascertain why? Are you anticipating the shot? Are you compensating for the inevitable recoil? Are you flinching, blinking, or rushing? All these can move the gun off target before the round exits the chamber.
3. Are you taking out the slack of your two-stage trigger? Many shooters start the trigger pull at the furthest position forward, skipping the trigger’s stages. Some refer to this as “slapping the trigger.” Although slapping has its place in some instances, not so much in shooting. Triggers like to be finessed, slowly, softly, smoothly. You get the idea.
4. How is your trigger reset? Are you releasing the trigger all the way to the forward most position, or are you going forward just enough to hear the “click” of the reset before you take your next shot?

Although the above list is not an exhaustive list of all the things you should analyze, the point is that without the recoil, loud explosion, and higher stress environment of shooting live rounds, you can really concentrate on technique. Perfect practice makes perfect.

Cost-Effectiveness:

Dry fire training is an economical way to practice regularly. Ammunition costs can add up, so incorporating dry fire into your routine allows for frequent practice without financial strain. Ammunition costs are not the only costs as well. Time is a huge expense for most of us. Driving to and from the range takes time that you may not have, and your practice will go on the back burner. Dry fire training allows you to easily take a minute to practice, saving you range fees, gas money, time, and ammo costs.

Safer Practice:

Practicing in a controlled environment with an unloaded weapon allows shooters to focus on safe handling practices. It’s an excellent opportunity to reinforce safety protocols without the potential hazards of live fire. Especially if you’re new to shooting, ranges can be somewhat high stress. The constant sound of gun fire, the range master breathing down your neck, and constantly trying not to fall on your ass because of spent casings rolling around on the floor are added stresses to practice.

Next Steps

When you’re engaged in dry fire practice, it is highly recommended using dummy rounds or snap caps. Some firearms, especially rimfire firearms, can be damaged by dry firing and dummy rounds protect the gun. However, the added benefit is that you can start to randomly add them in your live fire training as well. Simply place a dummy round in the mix of your loaded magazine to simulate a misfire, allowing you to practice clearing malfunctions. You will also be able to notice if you are flinching when you pull the trigger or compensating the guns recoil. These things are highly noticeable when you pull the trigger, and it doesn’t go boom.

Want to check out some gear to help with your dry fire training? We are lucky enough to live in highly innovative times where you can find gear and tech to help you with pretty much anything! Check out these products.

Mantis- Mantis has several high-tech tools to help improve your shooting, including a system that sends data to your phone in real time, allowing you to analyze nearly every aspect of your shooting. They have everything from hardware to software. If you have not seen their product, check them out! https://mantisx.com/

Dry Fire Mag- Dry Fire Mag offers a magazine the simulates a trigger break and reset that you can both hear and feel. They provide a great way to practice double taps, as you do not have to manually reset the trigger between trigger pulls. https://www.dryfiremag.com/

BarrelBlok- To up your game in safety, check out BarrelBlok. Their product has visual indicators that make it very easy to see your gun is unloaded and in dry fire training mode. https://bloksafety.com/

Conclusion

Both dry fire and live fire training are indispensable for improving weapon system confidence and handling. Dry fire practice enhances fundamental skills, builds muscle memory, and is cost-effective, while live fire training provides realistic experience, recoil management, and confidence building. By integrating both methods into a regular training regimen, shooters can develop a well-rounded proficiency that enhances performance and ensures preparedness in both competitive and defensive scenarios. Practice safe techniques by following all the rules of safety, as well as using common sense. Practice proper techniques only, because practicing improper techniques only makes you more proficient at doing things wrong. Perfect practice makes perfect.