As a powerful and influential member of the media, I was given the opportunity to preview the upcoming book from author, Nicholas Orr, entitled, “A Pipe Hitters Guide to Red Dots and Optics on Handguns,” one of several books in the popular Pipe Hitters series.
While Mr. Orr’s new book regarding red dots and optics is currently in the final editing process, there was one section that I thought our audience would find especially useful and I asked for permission to share it here. This would be the chapter dry-fire or dry-practice. And so, my dear reader, you are going to get a sneak preview from this sure to be a best selling book. Enjoy.
Dry-Fire Practice
*Author’s Note: Dry-fire trigger presses MUST be deliberate and purposeful or this exercise will become one of spastic trigger snapping.
For the sake of clarity, the act of “dry-firing” means to operate the firearm sans ammunition. In addition to the pressing of the trigger, dry-firing can also include the presentation of the handgun from the holster.
One of the reasons why many instructors cringe when they hear people tell them that they are “dry-firing at home” is because so many people dry-fire incorrectly. Due to the fact there is no recoil and there is no feedback from the bullet hitting the target, the dry-fire routines of many people will devolve into a monotonous trigger-snapping exercise. It does not have to be this way.
Good dry-fire practice requires supreme mental discipline in order to avoid developing an unconscious flinch or a trigger slapping habit. It is possible to conduct valuable dry-fire practice without the benefit of a coach or instructor. Nonetheless, the best or fastest way to achieve success is to first take professional training and then begin a dry-fire routine. You cannot see what you are doing incorrectly or the training scars you are developing, but your coach can.
Dry-Fire Safety
The job of the pistol/handgun, whatever, is to launch bullets. If the gun fires when you were not expecting it to, the gun is not wrong, you are wrong. The gun does not know that you are wanting to dry-fire, it will function mechanically the same whether there is a round in the chamber or not.
“A bullet from a gun does not make a distinction between practice and combat. You are training to be one and the same in your entire life.” – Miyamoto Musashi
In order to minimize the chance of a negligent discharge, especially when using a carry gun, you need to take deliberate steps to keep that from happening. First, go to a place where you will NOT be distracted, particularly by other people. Moms and dads, you need to do this when the kids are not going to be around and seeking your attention. Also, put your phone out of reach, preferably in another room. Your focus needs to be on practice, not social media.
Find a place or direction that will absorb a bullet in the event the unthinkable happens and a round finds its way into the chamber. Remember, no one plans to have a negligent discharge. John Farnam once said, “When it comes to gun people, there are those who have had an ND, those who will, and those who lie about it.”
Clear the pistol and put the ammunition out of reach from where you will be dry-firing. If you have ammo pouches on your belt/person, clear them too. The only thing that should be in your magazines are brightly colored dummy rounds if you so choose to go that route. Say the words “Time to dry-fire” out loud. Yes, I am serious. I don’t care that you are all alone. Now, dry-fire until you are finished.
The Dry-Fire Wall Drill with Optics
When dry-firing with iron sights, the goal is for the front sight to be clear in your vision and the point of focus as you press the trigger. The “Wall Drill” is an activity that helps you to teach yourself to focus on the front sight, not a target. In order to ensure that your front sight is indeed perfectly still and remains in your field of view when the trigger breaks, move to a blank wall, preferably a basement or outside wall. Extend your arms with your pistol in them until the muzzle touches the wall. Now back up about two inches or so away from the wall. Remember, the wall should be blank.
Now, extend the pistol for a dry-fire trigger press. The only thing in your vision should be the front sight of the gun. Press the trigger while your focus is on the front sight. Did it move ever so slightly or did it disappear when the trigger broke? Your goal is for there to be no perceptible movement in the front sight as the trigger releases/breaks. If you can do this every time, all the time, you are well on your way.
Though the Wall Drill was initially developed to help shooters work on their front sight focus and their trigger press, can we use this same drill or the principle of the drill to practice when we are using an optic? The answer is yes, you can use the Wall Drill for optic dry-fire. You can dry-fire with your pistol and optic in standard configuration or, if you like, you can set your optic up in the OEG fashion as we discussed during the previous chapter.
Our recommendation is to extend the pistol in both hands just as you would with iron sights. Allow the focus of your vision to fall on the blank wall. When you interject the optic into your field of view, the illuminated reticle should be perceived now as a part of the whole picture. Take your time and press the trigger while holding the gun as stable as you possibly can do so. You may notice a small amount of movement in the reticle, that is to be expected. Over time, with dedicated practice and sufficient forearm and grip strength, you can get to the point where the movement of the reticle becomes imperceptible. When the hammer/striker falls, before you move your hands to rack the slide or to press the trigger again ala double-action trigger, count “one thousand one” in your head. This will help keep you from developing a reflexive training scar.
Your goal with this drill is two-fold. You want to develop as near a perfect trigger press as you can. How do you know? If the hammer/striker falls and reticle does not move or moves only with a slight tremor, you are well on your way to mastering trigger manipulation. Additionally, you are training yourself to present the gun, index it, so that the reticle in the optic comes into view every time you extend the gun.
How Much Dry-Fire?
How much dry-fire should you be doing? If you are still working on your 10,000 hours, I would suggest that you dedicate fifteen to twenty minutes of dedicated dry-fire practice, four to five times a week. You should be performing at least 50:1 deliberate, perfect dry-fire trigger presses for each live round of ammunition you fire. So, if you are a person who goes to the range once a month on a Saturday or Sunday to launch a hundred rounds, you need to put in at least 5000 dry-fire trigger presses during that same month.
The good news is that dry-fire is free. Well, sort of. There is a price to pay, but the cost isn’t measured in dollars. The price of dry-fire practice is time and an investment in disciplined movement. If you conduct dry-fire practice correctly, you will move forward faster on the path to mastery. However, if your dry-fire becomes a rushed, trigger-snapping exercise, you will actually fall further behind.
There are some tools or aids for dry-firing. At a minimum you should purchase a package of dummy rounds or what they call “snap-caps”. These are brightly colored replicas of whichever load you are using. There are laser devices that you can purchase to make your dry-fire a bit more interactive. There is nothing wrong with these and if that is what you need in order to get yourself to dry-fire, feel free, but the laser-devices are not necessary for skill development; dedication and discipline are.
If you are incorporating a presentation from the holster in your dry-fire practice, don’t try to go fast. Instead, attempt to make every draw stroke perfect. Imagine that you are being recorded on video so that people can watch it to see how a perfect draw stroke is performed. If you were demonstrating for people, you would not want to go fast, you would want the movement to be absolutely perfect.
Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.