DRY firing practice

[cwpayton]

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOME OF YOUR OPINIONS ON THE PRACTICE OF DRY FIRING A RIFLE. WITH AMMO COST AS IT IS 2$ A ROUND UP TO 10$ FOR DG RIFLES.
I PRACTICE ALOT THIS WAY, BUT I DONT COCK THE RIFLE JUST SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER, ALMOST ALWAYS FROM A STANDING OFF HAND POSITION. ANY ONE CAN HIT OFF STICKS,RIGHT?
PICTURE DRY FIRING ON A LIVE TARGET A COUPLE DAYS BACK, 200 YDS + _ ON MY FIRST SPRING HIKE, WITH MY LITE HIKING RIFLE.. " EXCUSE THE ALL CAPS," IT DEFINETLY HELPS ON BREATHING.

 

[farmer_john]

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOME OF YOUR OPINIONS ON THE PRACTICE OF DRY FIRING A RIFLE. WITH AMMO COST AS IT IS 2$ A ROUND UP TO 10$ FOR DG RIFLES.
I PRACTICE ALOT THIS WAY, BUT I DONT COCK THE RIFLE JUST SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER, ALMOST ALWAYS FROM A STANDING OFF HAND POSITION. ANY ONE CAN HIT OFF STICKS,RIGHT?
PICTURE DRY FIRING ON A LIVE TARGET A COUPLE DAYS BACK, 200 YDS + _ ON MY FIRST SPRING HIKE, WITH MY LITE HIKING RIFLE.. " EXCUSE THE ALL CAPS," IT DEFINETLY HELPS ON BREATHING.

Dry snap caps are a good tool. You can do alot of practicing without shooting. Tbh

Theres also a few modified offhand postitions that help with longer range shooting. Also woukd be utilizing the sling depending how its affixed to your rifle.

 

[akrifleman]

Most competition pros dry fire. Just not with rimfires, without soft snap caps (most are hard plastic junk) However, it is better to cycle and break the trigger, to be able to "call the shot".

 

[Green Chile]

I dry fire a lot due to a competition background. Cycling the bolt is part of it so don’t skip anything. Also, consider rimfire practice…I start and end every practice with rimfire off the sticks.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

@cwpayton
Sir, if my memory is correct, aren’t you a US Marine, albeit your service was a few years ago?
We Marines didn't spend Grass Week "snapping in" prior to rifle qualification for nothing! https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marines-learn-shoot/

The short answer is of course I dry fire, often! For centerfire rifles and handguns I do not worry about damaging a firing pin or spring. I suppose that could happen but for well-made firearms it is not likely. Modern arms from manufactures that use a lot of metal injection molded (MIM) parts, I'd be cautious but not paranoid! I use dummy cartridges shown below to reduce stress on the striker in bolt action rifles, and the firing pins in double rifles and pistols.

Most champion marksmen reached that level by proper practice which included dry firing. It is said for pistol competition one should dry fire 100 times for every shot in a match. Personally, I spent many hours dry firing at the “snapping in” barrels and in my basement.

Dry firing builds our sub-conscious memory including position which includes,

• Shouldering the weapon properly
• Sight alignment for metallic sights
• Position, the shooter’s head position so the sights or crosshairs are naturally aligned with one’s vision,
• Sight alignment for metallic sights
• Sight picture, sights or crosshairs on proper place on target
• Breathing for breaking the shot without interrupting the proper sight picture
• Squeezing the trigger without moving the crosshairs off the aiming point
• Follow through while and after breaking the trigger (from the sear). Follow through is essential for presenting to the weapon Consistent Opposition to Recoil. This is key for shooting small groups! Why? The barrel is moving from recoil long before the bullet leaves the barrel.
• Like you, I dry fire mostly offhand but I need to incorporate stick practice into my routine. Dry firing off sticks is probably best outside if possible. Find an imaginary target, i.e. rock, vee of tree branch… , quickly set the sticks, assume as good a position as possible, adjust the sticks to provide the shooter a natural point of aim…

I dry fire my dangerous game rifles several times a week at my elephant target in my basement. For this I ensure there is NO loaded ammunition anywhere near my rifle. I often load with dummy “inert” rounds and practice cycling the bolt which is a 4-count movement, up, back, forward, and down.

My dummy cartridges are of the same configuration as my hunting ammunition, minus the primer and powder. With 68% meplat solids such as North Fork or Cutting Edge Bullets, working the bolt tests the rifle for proper feeding. Those flat nose solids will test most rifles! I’ve had to have my gunsmith pull the barrel of one rifle to work his feeding magic on the barrel to achieve proper cycling of cartridges with big meplats!

Inert "dummy" cartridges​

If I were concerned that dry firing would wear out my rifles, I’d buy a similar but inexpensive rifle for that purpose. I use dummy cartridges with the primer pockets filled with hot glue. When the glue shows a divot from the strike of the firing pin, I dig out the old glue and fire up the hot glue gun!

A few dangerous game rifles waiting for my attention, i.e. dry firing​

My elephant dry fire targets​

The crosshair target above bottom left is also for dry firing. The little green and red dots lower right are for adjusting reflex (red dot) and scopes. I use a laser to record on target where the red dot and laser's green dots are, Those references provide me a starting point to adjust a different red dot to. This procedure also works when changing scopes.

Professional Laser Bore Sighter | Green Laser | Wheeler

Professional Laser Bore Sighter - Green

www.wheelertools.com

View of dry fire target through basement clutter.
Clutter is essential for developing what Colonel David Willis, USMC Shooting Teams, referred to as "Tunnel Vision".
The Colonel when enlisted was a sniper. When he spoke, I listened and recorded it in my brain.
​

The photo above is my target view from 35 feet away. My "I love me wall" on the left. Clutter is good...

 

[Russ16]

Where did you get the elephant target?

 

[akrifleman]

@cwpayton
Sir, if my memory is correct, aren’t you a US Marine, albeit your service was a few years ago?
We Marines didn't spend Grass Week "snapping in" prior to rifle qualification for nothing! https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marines-learn-shoot/

The short answer is of course I dry fire, often! For centerfire rifles and handguns I do not worry about damaging a firing pin or spring. I suppose that could happen but for well-made firearms it is not likely. Modern arms from manufactures that use a lot of metal injection molded (MIM) parts, I'd be cautious but not paranoid! I use dummy cartridges shown below to reduce stress on the striker in bolt action rifles, and the firing pins in double rifles and pistols.

Most champion marksmen reached that level by proper practice which included dry firing. It is said for pistol competition one should dry fire 100 times for every shot in a match. Personally, I spent many hours dry firing at the “snapping in” barrels and in my basement.

Dry firing builds our sub-conscious memory including position which includes,

• Shouldering the weapon properly
• Sight alignment for metallic sights
• Position, the shooter’s head position so the sights or crosshairs are naturally aligned with one’s vision,
• Sight alignment for metallic sights
• Sight picture, sights or crosshairs on proper place on target
• Breathing for breaking the shot without interrupting the proper sight picture
• Squeezing the trigger without moving the crosshairs off the aiming point
• Follow through while and after breaking the trigger (from the sear). Follow through is essential for presenting to the weapon Consistent Opposition to Recoil. This is key for shooting small groups! Why? The barrel is moving from recoil long before the bullet leaves the barrel.
• Like you, I dry fire mostly offhand but I need to incorporate stick practice into my routine. Dry firing off sticks is probably best outside if possible. Find an imaginary target, i.e. rock, vee of tree branch… , quickly set the sticks, assume as good a position as possible, adjust the sticks to provide the shooter a natural point of aim…

I dry fire my dangerous game rifles several times a week at my elephant target in my basement. For this I ensure there is NO loaded ammunition anywhere near my rifle. I often load with dummy “inert” rounds and practice cycling the bolt which is a 4-count movement, up, back, forward, and down.

My dummy cartridges are of the same configuration as my hunting ammunition, minus the primer and powder. With 68% meplat solids such as North Fork or Cutting Edge Bullets, working the bolt tests the rifle for proper feeding. Those flat nose solids will test most rifles! I’ve had to have my gunsmith pull the barrel of one rifle to work his feeding magic on the barrel to achieve proper cycling of cartridges with big meplats!

Inert "dummy" cartridges​

View attachment 752816

If I were concerned that dry firing would wear out my rifles, I’d buy a similar but inexpensive rifle for that purpose. I use dummy cartridges with the primer pockets filled with hot glue. When the glue shows a divot from the strike of the firing pin, I dig out the old glue and fire up the hot glue gun!

A few dangerous game rifles waiting for my attention, i.e. dry firing​

View attachment 752811

My elephant dry fire targets​

View attachment 752812
The crosshair target above bottom left is also for dry firing. The little green and red dots lower right are for adjusting reflex (red dot) and scopes. I use a laser to record on target where the red dot and laser's green dots are, Those references provide me a starting point to adjust a different red dot to. This procedure also works when changing scopes.

Professional Laser Bore Sighter | Green Laser | Wheeler

Professional Laser Bore Sighter - Green

www.wheelertools.com

View attachment 752813

View of dry fire target through basement clutter.
Clutter is essential for developing what Colonel David Willis, USMC Shooting Teams, referred to as "Tunnel Vision".
The Colonel when enlisted was a sniper. When he spoke, I listened and recorded it in my brain.
​

View attachment 752815

The photo above is my target view from 35 feet away. My "I love me wall" on the left.

Perfect sight picture, by the numbers, my brother.

 

[375Fox]

I dry fire more than I shoot. After I fire a live round, I’ll usually open and close the bolt then dry fire on that round 2 or 3 times. I also had dummy rounds loaded so I can’t tell if I load live or dummy round. I learn a lot more and improve my shooting with dry firing. I think many are too stubborn or arrogant to admit it, but shooting more doesn’t help you shoot better. The only way to improve bad habits is dry firing. Recoil covers up a lot of bad habits you don’t even know you have. Where the crosshairs go when the trigger breaks is where the bullet goes.

 

[akrifleman]

I also use the IDTS dryfire system for PRS shooting, and a CZ75 for USPSA shooting.

The advantage of IDTS is the lens, which makes the poster look like a field of targets at 300 to 1000 yards, which in real life are a few feet away.

The double action CZ75 will allow you to learn the massive number of mistakes while dry firing. If you can pull that cz length, and not fire with your hands, but your isolated finger, you're gonna learn to really shoot.

 

[MS 9x56]

I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOME OF YOUR OPINIONS ON THE PRACTICE OF DRY FIRING A RIFLE. WITH AMMO COST AS IT IS 2$ A ROUND UP TO 10$ FOR DG RIFLES.
I PRACTICE ALOT THIS WAY, BUT I DONT COCK THE RIFLE JUST SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER, ALMOST ALWAYS FROM A STANDING OFF HAND POSITION. ANY ONE CAN HIT OFF STICKS,RIGHT?
PICTURE DRY FIRING ON A LIVE TARGET A COUPLE DAYS BACK, 200 YDS + _ ON MY FIRST SPRING HIKE, WITH MY LITE HIKING RIFLE.. " EXCUSE THE ALL CAPS," IT DEFINETLY HELPS ON BREATHING.

I do this with every gun I purchase to get a feel for the trigger and if needed adjust it or replace it to my liking. I then repeat it before each hunt with the rifle I will be using on that hunt. It definitely helps me, and I highly recommend it.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I bought a bolt action 223 so that I can live fire a lot with cheap ammo. I also use to have a bolt action in 7.62x39 for the same reason.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Dry fire is a great way to practice the mechanics of marksmanship. It is a good way to get rid of a flinch if you have one too. I would add, live fire with a rimfire rifle that is the same size and weight as your hunting rifle off of sticks to practice mounting and shooting from sticks. Marksmanship is a perishable skill and without practice one does get rusty. Dry fire does not hurt centerfire rifles or most modern rimfires but a snap cap for the rimfire is a good idea. I normally only dry fire the centerfire guns.

 

[MS 9x56]

When you own as many rifles by different manufacturers in as many calibers as I do the needed practice quickly becomes prohibitively expensive. Every rifle and every trigger is an entity unto it self.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

Where did you get the elephant target?

This is the front and back of the now "out of print" target from Safari Press.
One may find them somewhere via a Google search...

 

[BeeMaa]

During the build up to a safari, my wife and I will do dry fire practice off sticks three to four days a week. That will be followed up with live range sessions on the weekends shooting about 8 rounds each. This is to confirm what we've been practicing all week. We also time our live fire shots to track our performance and create a little competition. I think we average 20 dry fire rounds for each live fire shot, but I probably do more than that.

And please pay attention to what @Mark A Ouellette is saying in his post above. Creating the muscle memory of doing everything properly will hone your shooting skills and when the time comes to place that shot...you will have the confidence and skill to place the shot correctly.

 

[Hammergun]

Beating the dead horse. Yes. Dry fire with dummy cartridges so that you are working the bolt and practicing follow up shots. You can't doing it too much.

Also, practice reloading your rifle while you keep an eye on your animal. You should be able to reload without looking at your rifle.

 

[Rimbaud]

@cwpayton
Sir, if my memory is correct, aren’t you a US Marine, albeit your service was a few years ago?
We Marines didn't spend Grass Week "snapping in" prior to rifle qualification for nothing! https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marines-learn-shoot/

The short answer is of course I dry fire, often! For centerfire rifles and handguns I do not worry about damaging a firing pin or spring. I suppose that could happen but for well-made firearms it is not likely. Modern arms from manufactures that use a lot of metal injection molded (MIM) parts, I'd be cautious but not paranoid! I use dummy cartridges shown below to reduce stress on the striker in bolt action rifles, and the firing pins in double rifles and pistols.

Most champion marksmen reached that level by proper practice which included dry firing. It is said for pistol competition one should dry fire 100 times for every shot in a match. Personally, I spent many hours dry firing at the “snapping in” barrels and in my basement.

Dry firing builds our sub-conscious memory including position which includes,

• Shouldering the weapon properly
• Sight alignment for metallic sights
• Position, the shooter’s head position so the sights or crosshairs are naturally aligned with one’s vision,
• Sight alignment for metallic sights
• Sight picture, sights or crosshairs on proper place on target
• Breathing for breaking the shot without interrupting the proper sight picture
• Squeezing the trigger without moving the crosshairs off the aiming point
• Follow through while and after breaking the trigger (from the sear). Follow through is essential for presenting to the weapon Consistent Opposition to Recoil. This is key for shooting small groups! Why? The barrel is moving from recoil long before the bullet leaves the barrel.
• Like you, I dry fire mostly offhand but I need to incorporate stick practice into my routine. Dry firing off sticks is probably best outside if possible. Find an imaginary target, i.e. rock, vee of tree branch… , quickly set the sticks, assume as good a position as possible, adjust the sticks to provide the shooter a natural point of aim…

I dry fire my dangerous game rifles several times a week at my elephant target in my basement. For this I ensure there is NO loaded ammunition anywhere near my rifle. I often load with dummy “inert” rounds and practice cycling the bolt which is a 4-count movement, up, back, forward, and down.

My dummy cartridges are of the same configuration as my hunting ammunition, minus the primer and powder. With 68% meplat solids such as North Fork or Cutting Edge Bullets, working the bolt tests the rifle for proper feeding. Those flat nose solids will test most rifles! I’ve had to have my gunsmith pull the barrel of one rifle to work his feeding magic on the barrel to achieve proper cycling of cartridges with big meplats!

Inert "dummy" cartridges​

View attachment 752816

If I were concerned that dry firing would wear out my rifles, I’d buy a similar but inexpensive rifle for that purpose. I use dummy cartridges with the primer pockets filled with hot glue. When the glue shows a divot from the strike of the firing pin, I dig out the old glue and fire up the hot glue gun!

A few dangerous game rifles waiting for my attention, i.e. dry firing​

View attachment 752811

My elephant dry fire targets​

View attachment 752812
The crosshair target above bottom left is also for dry firing. The little green and red dots lower right are for adjusting reflex (red dot) and scopes. I use a laser to record on target where the red dot and laser's green dots are, Those references provide me a starting point to adjust a different red dot to. This procedure also works when changing scopes.

Professional Laser Bore Sighter | Green Laser | Wheeler

Professional Laser Bore Sighter - Green

www.wheelertools.com

View attachment 752813

View of dry fire target through basement clutter.
Clutter is essential for developing what Colonel David Willis, USMC Shooting Teams, referred to as "Tunnel Vision".
The Colonel when enlisted was a sniper. When he spoke, I listened and recorded it in my brain.
​

View attachment 752815

The photo above is my target view from 35 feet away. My "I love me wall" on the left. Clutter is good...

Thank you for sharing what is arguably the best explanation of why it makes sense to dry fire that I have ever read. I also practice dry fire. On conference calls (non-video) in my office, I will practice with my concealed carry pistol. I like to work on draw stroke, and target acquisition. Before major hunts, I carry my rifle around the house and work the bolt, line up shots on squirrels, branches, etc. (Yes, my wife thinks that I am nuts, my son thinks it is kind of cool, and my daughters know that their Dad will use boyfriends as reactive targets).

 

[skydiver386]

This is @tinktink12's Walther 10meter Olympic air rifle that she shoots in competition. I have an identical Walther LG-400 in black/silver. On the left side of the receiver of any serious air rifle you have a dry fire switch.

On these rifles, it's the black toggle. F is for fire, T is for Training/Dry fire. When in the T position, the trigger activates as normal, but the air cylinder is disconnected, and no air is released.

All that's needed for practice is 33ft, and some sort of backstop. We use a steel pellet trap, or a wooden box filled with Duct-Seal putty.

This is a 12 Bull 10meter target. We keep one at the backstop marked "Do not shoot" specifically for dry fire practice. The 10 ring or Bullseye is not really a ring, but a dot about the size of a period at the end of this sentence.

I spend no less than 30 minutes a day dry firing, and 15 minutes live firing. Even more before a competition.

With larger caliber firearms, I still dry fire 20-30 minutes a day before a hunt, and live fire as often as I can get to a range.

I often dry fire not only from sticks, but standing, kneeling, sitting and prone. Do this before a hunt and you'll put it right on the money.

 

[tinktink12]

This is @tinktink12's Walther 10meter Olympic air rifle that she shoots in competition. I have an identical Walther LG-400 in black/silver. On the left side of the receiver of any serious air rifle you have a dry fire switch.
View attachment 752837
On these rifles, it's the black toggle. F is for fire, T is for Training/Dry fire. When in the T position, the trigger activates as normal, but the air cylinder is disconnected, and no air is released.
View attachment 752839
All that's needed for practice is 33ft, and some sort of backstop. We use a steel pellet trap, or a wooden box filled with Duct-Seal putty.
View attachment 752841
This is a 12 Bull 10meter target. We keep one at the backstop marked "Do not shoot" specifically for dry fire practice. The 10 ring or Bullseye is not really a ring, but a dot about the size of a period at the end of this sentence.

I spend no less than 30 minutes a day dry firing, and 15 minutes live firing. Even more before a competition.

With larger caliber firearms, I still dry fire 20-30 minutes a day before a hunt, and live fire as often as I can get to a range.

I often dry fire not only from sticks, but standing, kneeling, sitting and prone. Do this before a hunt and you'll put it right on the money.

Exactly! And that is my beautiful zombie colored gun.

 

[skydiver386]

Exactly! And that is my beautiful zombie colored gun.

From a woman that 5 years ago didn't want any guns in the house!