Practice without ammo

[mud]

For the last few weeks I have been wanting to plink as I have done every few days for the last year. Since I am having trouble finding ammo I decided to work on a few other things.

Reloading your weapon:
Use a mirror while placing your pistol or rifle in different positions around you. I am using the mirror in the bedroom so mine are placed around the bed. Next use 2 or three spare magazines and place them around as well.

Now either shoulder your rifle or raise your weapon, load your magazine, simulate firing on the target in the mirror, then change magazines without taking your firearm off target.

While working on reloading you will begin to see in the mirror that after the reload you need to re-aquire your target. Start out using center mass then as you find yourself less and less off target move to the head.

This is also good for failure drills. The more you can incorporate into the drill, the more fun it is.

I find that I can 'simulate' arming, firing and reloading my 1911 and Buckmark through three magazines in about 18 seconds using random drop placement of the mags.

This drill is fun and cheap!

Be sure all weapons used are safety checked.

[Deleted]

I have been practicing with the pellet gun. I have found that if done properly, I can kill a squirrel in the top of one of the huge oak trees in my front yard with 1 well placed shot.

Last summer I got a crap load of marbles (nothing valuable) and have been practicing with my slingshot. Still not worth a crap with it, but gradually getting better!

I will give your idea a try, sounds like a way to get in the habit of doing things differently...but I was told that repeated dry firing is damaging to guns...can anyone verify of this is true?

[mud]

The whole idea is being able to perform more than one task in a stressful situation. Even though it is practice, if you are honestly putting effort into it failing to find your magazine or inserting it improperly or not seating it or even having to take your eyes off your target generates stress. Muscle memory and confidence are improved as well as critical thinking. I can successfully draw and aim my 45 and my 22 to a head shot POA 50 out of 50 times.
so lets start with basics.

We will still used the mirror and an unloaded weapon (perform your safety check!!)

First step is your grip. You want your grip to be solid but not so strong as to cause your hands to shake. You want to be able to grip your weapon the same way each and every time. This took the longest for me to learn. I used the mirror for this as well because if your grip and presentation are correct your weapon will be raised to your vision and be on target.

Practice strong hand, two hand and weak hand.

[Cwi555]

When I was eleven, my Grandfather had me doing very similar drills. I was never allowed actual ammunition unless he was present, but more often than not there were live fire sessions after the dry fire sessions.
His shop was 200'x85', and packed with various machinery, mills, lathes, heat treat units, welding gear, a corner for casting, along with a bay for diesel truck repair, auto repair, etc. replete with an overhead crane that ran the length of the shop.
It was all laid out in a nice orderly fashion with a break room in the center, and two little offices in the back corner.

My uncle served several tours in Vietnam. The first was as infantry, then it was off to OCS, ranger, and special forces/green beret in SFODA, and later SFODB capacity for the latter tour. One of his preferred weapons was a modified Winchester model 12.

My Grandfather took that knowledge and with my Uncles guidance, modified two Model 12's to match the set up my uncle used. That was what I was trained with for shotguns initially. On this particular day, it was both of them running me through some drills.
At the time, I was 5'8" and 'big enough' according to him. We used the shop for close combat drills as he was a big fan of training. You can imagine the awe an eleven year old had when their grandpa and uncle took them under their wing to do such a thing. Those times were the worst for me in that I was scared to death of screwing up and disappointing them.
I don't think either of them ever realized that, or then again, maybe they did?

Getting back to point, though I was always nervous, I always gave it everything I had.

Up until this point in history, I took everything they said for gospel, including when they told me the shells were wax (He loaded compressed wax slugs for this). For this particular drill, I was not allowed to load the tube and was instead required to roll all the rounds in.
For the record, my Grandfather would always follow behind me for these exercises. He was very adamant about never pointing any firearm at something you had no intention of shooting. Which was and is a good thing.
This particular day, the break room was one of the designated hostile areas. When I came around the corner the cardboard bad guy had been set out in front of the refrigerator of which I promptly rolled one in and fired upon target recognition. Somewhere in there, my grandpa had mistakenly put a live 00 buck in my ammo belt or forgot to take it out. In retrospect, a part of my mind recognized the weight was wrong for the shell, but the other part was hell bent on a good run time for the exercise. I blasted the cardboard bad guy with 00 and behind it the refrigerator as well.

I immediately knew something was wrong as the fridge was rocking and making a gawd awful noise. After a few moments of shocked silence, my grandfather took the shotgun from me and called in my uncle. He looked at everything, opened the fridge, which revealed the pellets had went through the door and out the back of it embedding in the wall. He looks at me sternly and says "congratulations, you have your first combat kill, a refrigerator and a ham sandwich" and starts laughing. I was mortified.

After keeping me on the hook for a few minutes, they let me know it wasn't my fault which to me at the time, was like getting a reprieve from a life sentence.

There were multiple lessons learned I carried forward from that day until now.

• Always peer check the conditions of an exercise.
  
• Never take someone's word for what the ammunition is, or the loaded/unloaded condition of the firearm.
  
• Never point at anything you don't intend to kill.
  
• Ammunition control. Lock it up and keep the live deadly rounds away during any exercise.
  
• No matter how good someone is, or how experienced they are, they are human and can screw up.
  
• Always listen to that inner voice, it recognizes things you may not on the surface of your mind.
  

With all that said. I suggest anyone performing dry fire exercises only do so with a peer check of conditions.

[Ceorlmann]

Jan 12, 2013 22:01:28 GMT -7 Dink said:

I will give your idea a try, sounds like a way to get in the habit of doing things differently...but I was told that repeated dry firing is damaging to guns...can anyone verify of this is true?

As a firearms instructor I'll tell you that dry fire is far more damaging to rimfire (ie 22lr, short, mag, 17 hmr, etc) guns than to centerfire guns. The firing pins in rimfire guns will end up striking the bottom edge of the chamber where the round normally sits, and this done repeatdely will make the firing pin lose its effectiveness in igniting the primer (only a slight dent made, rather than a dent deep enough to ignite the priming chemical), and eventually may even break the pin depending on how well it was made. This is why most manuals for rimfire guns advise that the user either use snap caps for dry fire sessions, or simply not to dry fire at all.

For centerfire guns there's more leeway, but ultimately it's still best to use snap caps to lower stress put on the firing pin. The firing pin may not strike anything once it's launched forward by the hammer, but there's still enough force from the hammer to put stress on the pin's body when it goes through the hole where the firing pin comes out.
For a visual example: if you have an AR15 remove the overall bolt carrier assembly with everything still in place, and locate the firing pin's bottom. Tap the bottom with your finger until you see the top of the pin portrude out from the carrier assembly. That is as far as the firing pin will go without being stressed to go further, thus putting it one cycle (or round) closer to the end of its life. All centerfire guns have a similar action system in the sense that the pin only goes so far before stress is put on it. Now: if you have one take a medium caliber pistol, such as a 380. After checking it to ensure it's safe (no round in chamber or mag) take a pencil and put it through the barrel until it's resting where the round would. Pull the trigger and let the action go through what would be a firing cycle. The pencil should have been launched completely out of the barrel. This is because for a fraction of a second the firing pin went further out of the bolt than what you normally see when the pin portrudes.


Disclaimer: shooting pencils or pens out of empty pistols may be seen as a source of amusement by the gun owner and like-minded friends shortly after trying it for the first few times. Playing appropriately is advised.

[jmarshnh]

I would say anytime you dry fire a handgun you should use snap caps.
Using snap caps on the range during live practice is also good. Have someone load you mags, or revolver, for you placing 1 or two snap caps in amongst live rounds. Then you can see if you are anticipating your shot or jerking the trigger. You would be surprised at the results, even from self proclaimed "super pistoleros". ;D
Jim

[mud]

I said SIMULATED firing, not dry firing. you can simply safe the weapon and pressure the trigger with the initial pad on your trigger finger. By having it safe you can see (both in the mirror and on the sights) whether you are pulling during the trigger stroke.

I concur with CWI on the safety checks