As temperatures rise along with fire danger, I am forced to close my personal range. I want to put together a consistent dry practice routine that can help me keep my skill level up.

Tell me your most productive dry practice drill as if you were teaching a student. how often and for how long do you practice.

I used to tape a target on my wall. Gives you something to aim at as a reference point.

Ive heard mounting a laser really helps you see flinching.

If you have a shot timer set par time for 1.5 seconds. Practice drawing and getting a good trigger press with good sight alignment in under 1.5. Then drop it down. Try to get consistently around a second. I do 10 minutes a day. When I remember. Serious competitors often dry fire an hour or more daily supposedly.

For USPSA stuff?

Trigger prep. Dry fire, hold trigger back, cycle slide and before the slide is fully forward release trigger and prep the trigger to almost the breaking point. See the videos by Bruce Gray and JL Jones.

Draw, fire one, reload and good trigger press with follow through. Transitioning from wide spaced targets. Practice reacting to the B in the beep rather than the P.

Turn and draw, draw from surrender, hands above shoulders.

Table starts, empty gun and mag on the table, at beep pick up gun, load and cycle the slide to a dry fire. Probably need either dummy rounds reverse the follower in the mag.

Draw and dry fire with strong hand, draw and switch to off hand.

I use the reduced targets and book from Ben Stoeger.

Here's a very basic routine that can be done in about 15 mins. I use a LaserLyte cartridge and target.

Goes without saying, but be sure to clear your pistol visually and physically before dry firing, and only dry fire in a room in which there is no live ammo.

1. Draw from holster, one shot x 10
2. Draw from holster strong hand only, one shot x 10
3. Support hand only, fire one shot from low ready x 10
4. Support hand only, fire one shot from high ready x 10
5. Facing uprange, turn to right, draw and fire one shot x 10
6. Facing uprange, turn to left, draw and fire one shot x10
7. Draw from holster, fire one shot, speed reload, fire one shot x 10
8. Begin aimed-in on target with slide locked back on empty mag. Fire one shot, emergency reload, fire one shot x 10

If using a striker-fired pistol, some of these exercises will require you to simulate a trigger pull (ie, trigger will not be reset).

OP, can you clarify? Skill level for what purpose?

Front Sight has a manual for dry practice... some of it is just a tad too 'california lawyered' for me but it is overall outstanding. I might could be coerced into sharing some of what is in their manual.......

quote:

Originally posted by Nick:



Tell me your most productive dry practice drill as if you were teaching a student. how often and for how long do you practice.

Competition dry fire: get Stoeger or Anderson's book. Their methods are thought through carefully and are backed up by results. There is no "most productive" drill, you dry fire pretty much the whole spectrum of skills and tasks, with attention spent on different things or parts.
Self defense: since my competition dry fire takes care of all other technical aspects, reloads and draw from concealment.

I try to dry fire daily unless work/life leave me exhausted. 15 min is minimum but sometimes up to one hour. Dry fire done correctly will leave you tired, and it is not easy to dry fire correctly.

What do you suck at? One of the greatest dry fire plans to me is using the solid practice to work on the things that I need to be better at.

IE- If I go to a match and fumble a couple of reloads, then reloads go into my dry fire plan. Aside from that my staples are draw fire one, prep reset prep, and the bump drill. Depending on the day, I'll mix in a little multiple target stuff, but that is visual and can be done for the most part without a gun in your hand with the proper technique.

I’ve started using a Mantis device since Christmas (only a few times so far, busy...) but it provides excellent feedback.

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
I used to tape a target on my wall. Gives you something to aim at as a reference point.
Ive heard mounting a laser really helps you see flinching.

I use the smallest target I can see for dry fire. A light switch toggle at 25' or so, the screws that hold the light switch if closer.

My goal is ZERO sight movement through the press but strikers (Glock) tend to have that noticable 'snap' that can make the front sight move around if my grip isn't 100% that session.

Just another idea ... I brought a Mantis X.

And it's difficult to explain. $160.00 on Amazon.

Basically, it's a gyroscope you mount on your accessory rail (and they have magazine adapters and barrel mounts). When you squeeze off your trigger, it analyzes your trigger pull, squeeze, or whatever, and provides an instant readout on your tablet or smartphone.

Mantis X works with both live fire and dry fire. It's also a shot timer ... and so much more.

Look them up at www.mantisx.com or Youtube.