Thoughts on Dry Fire

I’m doing more dry fire these days, partly because I know it’s the key to being a better shooter, partly because I have a cool new toy I’m trying out for work and partly because I’m telling my students that they need to do it, and I need to be a good example for them. 

Plus some of them are getting to the point where they might whip my sorry ass, and I can’t allow THAT to happen. 😀 

Some things I’m noticing…

• If you have the basics of grip, stance and trigger down pat, the absence of recoil makes no difference in your ability to progress. Think about it: Barring any input from you, the mechanics of the gun recoiling are going to be 100 percent the same. If you slap your pistol in a Ransom Rest, it will come back to the same starting point every time. Therefore, any inability to control that process is your fault, not the gun’s. Practice your grip in dry fire with the same vigor that you do on the range, and you’ll do just fine. 
• Tim Herron is right (he’s really annoying that way…): What matters most in dry fire is achieving repeated trigger presses without disturbing the sights. Why? Because that’s what matters in LIVE fire,
  Duh.
  The good news is, all you need in order to do it is your pistol, and that’s it. It doesn’t matter if your trigger actually moves as you dry fire, it’s the motion of the trigger as if it was actually pulling the trigger that matters. The resistance of the trigger isn’t what throws you off, it’s the movement of your hands as you perform that action, and that can be simulated with a dead trigger. 
• The strong hand only draw stroke from concealment is 100 percent the same as the two-handed draw stroke from concealment. The only difference is that your support hand stays on your chest. 
• If you’re not picking up the dot on the press-out, bring it up more as you clear your holster, and grip the gun a little tighter. 

Oh, and look for a review of that cool little gadget next month at shootingillustrated.com.