Dry Fire Training — Misconceptions vs. Reality
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
Hello. I’m interested in improving my shooting skills and have been reading about dry fire training. I understand it involves practicing trigger control, sight alignment, and drawing without live ammunition. I’m curious about how to structure a consistent dry fire routine that actually translates to live-fire accuracy. What are the most effective exercises or tools (like laser training cartridges or target setups) for beginners and intermediate shooters? How often should dry fire sessions be done, and what common mistakes should be avoided to ensure proper technique and safety?I'll chime in with @SimonRL - I've used the Mantis X10 for a long time and can absolutely see a downturn in my live fire performance when I don't put in the Mantis reps. As (I hope) most will agree, shooting is a perishable skill and whether it's live or dry fire, if you don't do something, your accuracy will suffer. I have the Mantis Laser Academy as well but haven't worked with it as much. The X10 works for both dry and live fire. One of my favorite features are the built-in courses you get with the X10 app; I've finished five of them so far. With increasing levels of difficulty (and gradually shorter time windows) they incorporate drawing from the holster, mag changes, malfunction clearing and, of course, clean trigger pulls - all under time constraints. They include both strong- and off-hand-only drills, shoot/no shoot scenarios, and more.
I've done some private training (1-on-1 with a trainer at the local range) and the mechanical improvements I made with Mantis translate to better performance in live fire training/drills as well.
As with anything, if I get lazy during live fire, no amount of dry fire training will help. No matter how good I think I am, I have to remember (and employ) solid fundamentals. But again, that's another area the Mantis X10 excels - the feedback it provides through the sensor and app do a decent job of telling me where I'm failing when my mechanics start to break down.
Everyone's mileage may vary as with all things. My personal experience with the Mantis solutions and the laser dry fire app has been very positive.
On an unrelated note, I feel like I'm cheating - just picked up a Walther PDP F-Series and they gifted me a free direct-mount optic. I've only shot it once so far (without the optic - which I just got yesterday), but the hype around Walther doesn't seem to be misplaced. Is it possible to love both Springfield and Walther?
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Muzzlestuffer
Operator
I would dry fire every night about 30 minutes if not for accuracy alone but just muscle memory and strength. If your using a red dot it will help with not having to search for the dot that's all the advice I can give.
Biggfoot44
Custom
I understand what you're saying, but l take the flipped viewpoint .
Trigger control , and sight alignment absolutely can be , and usually are mastered thru dry fire .
[ Annecdote - Back in the day , a friend of mine a few years younger than me , both from around the neighborhood , and multi generational member of my gun club at the time . Out of HS , he was accepted into AMU . He would tell me that commonly his daily duty assignment was 8hr of dry firing, from a particular position . ( This was before AMU dabbled into practical pistol , and main focus was Rifle ) . ]
You can 99% learn presentation , sight acquisition, sight alignment , trigger control , presentation , and reloading all dry . Insert stories of thousands of reps with dummy rounds to speedload revolvers behind my back , with my eyes closed .
All that's left is managing recoil. And in an era when 9mm and / or compensated pistols are dominate , us dinosaurs laugh and say " what recoil ? " .
If you are are at the level of top 1% of professional competition shooters , then yeah , thousands of rounds per week of live fire helps shave that last 0.01 seconds per stage . For for real life real world , practical , field , or defensive shooting , 99% can be mastered dry .
The Late , Great Bill Jordan had multiple times been quoted as doing 100 times in dry fire for each live round .
Of course , most of the younger generation will say " Bill Who ? " , or that various world records , national championships , and prevailing in ( quantities he declined to publicly discuss ) gunfights in the South Pacific , and along the Border , don't mean anything , because he didn't use this weeks trendy techniques .
Mr. Untactical
Master Class
Great questions! For me, I've found the Mantis tools to be top training systems. They aren't the least expensive, but they include progression-based scenarios that work from beginner on up. For example, the Mantis X10 Elite, which is the one I use most, offers comprehensive feedback on every shot, and highlights what was potentially wrong with each one - and how to resolve the problem(s). If you want to see the laser hit the target, they have their Laser Academy as well as the Blackbeard system (for AR-style rifles). I like Laser Academy, but I love my X10 Elite. With the adapter rail affixed to my mag plate, I can do all the holster drills I want along with shooting from the low ready or anything that doesn't involve drawing from the holster.
Results are clear, and it's easy to see your progress. With nearly 6,000 "shots" with the X10 Elite I can tell which trigger pulls were poor before I even look at the results on the app.
Dry fire does come with some caveats. I can "cheat" if I want to. And by "cheat" I mean skimp on my grip and other mechanics and still score well as long as I press that trigger with minimum movement. I've never understood why people cheat at golf or other things because, in the end, your cheating yourself, right? So, even if I score well on a Mantis drill, I evaluate my total performance and balance the Mantis results against that.
Now, there's some drills you can't fake, like the mag change drills. Man, I hate those
I can't stop time and at the level I am right now, to drop a mag, insert a new one, drop the slide, and get a "shot" off in less that 2.5 seconds AND score 85 or better? Let's just say, I'm still working on it.Oh, and you can use the X10 Elite with live fire too. That lets you see if what you're doing to improve during dry fire translates over to live fire. Of course, if you're indoors with a bunch of folks shooting around you, it's not going to work very well.
Frankly, you can dry fire at home with nothing. Clear your weapon, go into another room, pick a light switch to aim at, and press the trigger. Rack the slide, repeat as many times as you like. You'll need to pay attention to your mechanics and try to make each shot right. Keep an eye on the front sight (put a dime or penny on the top of the slide if the geometry supports it) and work to get minimal movement through the trigger press. Or get a laser cartridge for your caliber and do the same thing so you can visualize where the point of impact would be.
Lots of ways, but the key is doing it. Like everything else, you'll get out of it what you put into it. Finally, ignore "practice makes perfect." If your mechanics are bad, you can practice all you like and it won't help. For me, "Perfect practice makes perfect" makes more sense.
Enjoy and good shooting!
AND a revolver
. Surely he could never have won a gunfight with only 6 rounds-everybody knows it takes at least 12-15 AND a couple reloads…. For the young’uns who’ve not seen it watch a video of his drawing and shooting-and read “No second place winner”, you just might learn some real world stuff…. Jordan was the real deal, and though his pistol and methods are “old fashion”, they apply just as much today as then. Human physiology hasn’t changed, and a ..357 or .41 is just as effective now as ever.