Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Dry firing

Dry firing is invaluable for shooting better.

I think it's particularly good for handgun shooting. I've fallen off that game the last 12 or 14 years or so, though. Need to get back on.

There is nothing you can do to help accuracy more than dry firing. I have good luck getting the girls in the family to dry fire practice but the boys want to hear it go bang. The girls are generally better shots than the boys.

Just use a snap cap if you are going to do it ALL the time.

Depends on the firearm. Some can be dry-fired forever with no problem. Others can be damaged very quickly.

I do lots of dry fire with handguns. For indoor rifle practice I mostly use air rifles.

Spent lots of time deployed aboard ship during the late 70's through the mid 80's and we dry fired our M40A1's a great deal in our berthing space, simple half inch black dot on paper taped to the bulkhead.
If underway we'd practice shooting at bags of trash that were thrown clear of the fan tail, helped with range estimation, moving targets (at times sharks would go after the mess deck trash), timing the movement of the ship and the sea state improved our skill set.
We would also dry fire our 1911's in the berthing area as well.
It never hurt the rifles or 1911's, and hey our bolt handles never fell off .....

StarchedCover

I used to shoot handgun competitively/seriously, I suppose that’s when I stepped up my game regarding dry firing. When the north wind blows and the snow is up to my but, I spend a lot of time dry firing. Sometimes I poke my head and rifle out and shoot at targets I’ve set up. I suppose I should have a second house in the land of AZ for the winter, then I could shoot more and that would be a good thing!
This winter and this cold cold spring and back surgery have kept me inside. I can’t wait until this global warming kicks in! Come on Gore you promised…
I used to shoot air rifles inside too, but not as much anymore. I find taking the rifle that I plan on taking out this fall and dry firing it daily is worthwhile.

When they train Marines to shoot they will dry fire many times more than with live ammo, if that tells you anything. Mastering the firearm without ammo will not only help with trigger control and sight alignment (all 7 factors to good shooting really) it will also facilitate muscle memory when manipulating the firearm you are practicing with. That’s a good skill to have in any shooting environment.

Some firearms you can dry fire a lot without damage to the gun, others not so much. Snap caps are good for shotguns and rimfires, ditto for revolvers. You may also consider how easily you can acquire and swap firing pins. Broken or deformed firing pins were relatively common in my time in the Marines; probably as a result of extensive dry firing.

Only dry fire to prove empty chamber of a semiauto pistol at the range. I eventually broke the firing pin but made a replacement.

I practice at home with the air rifle from time to time but am down the local range most weekends, "wet" firing.

if you please, what falls in which category

I teach gun fighting to commandos for a living.

Dry fire is essential.

1. You develop trigger control. Nothing like dropping the hammer without noise and recoil to show you (via site movement) what is happening. Hint (sorry, couldn't resist)

2. Dry fire should be extended to weapons manipulation ie, draw, presentation, reloading and stoppage mitigation.

I Dry fire at the TV, action movies are challenging.
Start by ensuring the weapon is unloaded, seriously!
Begin at full presentation.
Advance to include presentation from high ready.
Incorporate a full draw when you're feeling squirrelly.

Not a gun writer

JB, can you elaborate on this. Thanks.

Yep. You don’t want to pull an Elvis! 📺🔫

Snap Caps only for me, and a lot of Dry Firing, with the Snap Caps only!

One of my buddies has a son and grandson that are both LEO.

They do dry fire exercises by placing a dime on top of their Glocks, just behind the front sight. Try not to let the dime fall off when dry firing.

One thing I've learned about handgun shooting is that a revolver might be the best practice weapon, the reason being that I can leave a chamber empty and spin the cylinder without looking before latching it up. You'll sure find out in a hurry if you're jerking the trigger. It kinda helps (AND hurts) when other shooters are on the line to see you do it...gives extra incentive to refrain from jerking. I guess you could call it "hybrid" dry firing or something like that, with social pressure thrown in.

Generally speaking, most rimfire firearms can be damaged by dry-firing, because the firing pin can dent the edge of the empty chamber. Which is why I only dry-fire rimfires with already fired empty cases in the chamber, even when just testing and adjusting the trigger.

Revolvers can vary considerably in their resistance to dry-firing.

Many break-action rifles and shotguns can be damaged, but often it's the firing pin recess that's damaged--though it can also affect the pin itself. Some break-action shotguns can also be dry-fired, but usually more modern models. Older ones (especially outside-hammer guns) might not do so well.

Most centerfire bolt-action rifles can be safely dry-fired, but other types of actions may not be, especially older lever-actions.

If there's any doubt about a particular model, fired cases are cheap--and snap-caps not unaffordable.

You can do this with mag fed guns too.

Its called a "Ball/Dummy" drill.

Mix 3-5 dummy rounds in with regular ammo randomly. Swap mags with your partner and coach each other. Chit talking is encouraged.

Great idea, OGB. I think I'll give that a try. After 20 years of intensive buying, trading, developing loads, investigating optics, and tinkering with rifles I think it's time to get my handgun shooting back on track. Better to do it with semis and revolvers, I think.