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Dry-Fire Training - A Crucial Part of Your Learning

simulator

How do the best shooters get good at shooting? How do you teach your body to move, draw from the holster, seek cover and concealment, or turn and shoot when you are limited at a linear range where you can’t move and can only shoot one direction?

The only way to train muscle memory, especially muscle memory that you’ll need to use in a highly stressful situation, is to physically do it. Thousands of times.

How is that possible with a pistol?

We’ve got three words for you — dry-fire practice. Let’s take a quick look at what it is and the benefits here.

What Is Dry Fire Practice?

Dry fire practice simply means shooting practice with a gun that has no live rounds in it. You can use a real gun with dummy rounds, aka snap-caps, or with no rounds at all, a practice inert, non-firing, gun or a laser training gun. Keep in mind that shooting with an empty chamber will ruin some guns so it depends on the model you have… generally all models manufactured after 1990 should be OK.

If you use a real gun, never store dummy rounds in the same place as live ammunition. Scout the room before you begin and remove all live ammunition. Plus, ALWAYS double-check each round as you’re loading to ensure it is not a live round.

Less risky alternatives involve practicing with a training gun that can’t fire live rounds. There are various options for training pistols you can use including:

  • A SIRT gun
  • A blue gun
  • A non-functioning airsoft gun
  • A real gun with a training barrel or non-resetting training trigger

You can also get dry fire training systems that work with your smartphone to track your progress. Most of these are available on Amazon.com or through our store at www.DTTHQ.com.

Benefits of Dry Fire Training

The benefits of dry fire training are so extensive that top instructors and gun enthusiasts recommend a training schedule of something like 80-90% dry fire and 10-20% live fire practice. Especially when we have ammo shortages, you can learn a lot more and become a better shooter without spending money on live-fire.

What are these benefits? Let’s see.

It’s Cheaper

Ammunition is expensive and supporting a shooting habit can get prohibitively expensive quickly. Dry fire allows you to practice to your heart’s content without dropping hundreds of dollars on ammo.

It Takes Less Time

You can do dry fire practice in your own home. No need to pack up and head to the range. With a significantly smaller time investment, you’ll be able to practice more often.

It’s More Versatile

Range shooting is linear. You can’t move and you can’t practice anything fancy. Basically, you can’t practice any of the skills that will be crucial in a real fight.

It’s Safer

There’s no chance of hitting something you didn’t intend to because you’re not firing live rounds.

It Prevents Recoil Reaction

Shooters who only practice with live rounds tend to lose their accuracy over time. This happens as their body starts to anticipate and compensate for the recoil ahead of time. With no recoil, dry fire allows you to train your body to hit the target every time, regardless of what the gun does after you fire it.

Dry Fire and Defensive Training

Looking to learn more about how to implement dry fire practice into your shooting schedule? Contact us here at Defensive Tactical Training  (DTT).  DTT offers SimCo training, which uses laser training pistol and various simulators to teach a full range of gun techniques, including situational scenarios in the comfort of our offices or your location/home. We’re in the business of teaching you how to defend yourself in the best ways possible!

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