Very basic question - Dry Fire

[idcastandblast]

I understand the concept of dry fire to practice draws and reloads and target acquisition. But what about the programs that tell people to take two shots on T1, and two shots on T2 etc. What are the shots?? I have a striker fired Glock and get one click per rack of the slide. DO I have to rack the slide every time? That just doesn't make sense to me because I have to release my grip to rack the slide, re-grip, and pull the trigger again. What am I missing here? I really want to work on improving my skills, but I'm just baffled.

Thanks.

[DonovanM]

Try inserting something, like a small folded piece of paper, between the barrel lug and the breechface to take your pistol just slightly out of battery. The trigger should swing freely. It's ok to practice with a free swinging trigger, I do it all the time on my DA/SA gun.

Or if all else fails just buy a SIRT pistol

[jdphotoguy]

I was under the impression that dry fire was used to build muscle memory and all movements should be done slowly and deliberately.

[Csiedmond1]

This is awesome info, I've wondered same thing but just never asked!!!

[Steve Anderson]

1. The Glock is the trickiest to dry fire with...you could keep presssing on the "dead" trigger (not ideal) but the out of battery trick is much better. You definitely should not reset the striker for every shot of a multi-shot drill.

2. There is value in slow motion dry fire, and there is value in high speed dry fire. One will perfect a technique, and the other will speed it up!

Does that help?

[idcastandblast]

Yes, I am going to try the out of battery trick. Thanks for the replies.

[JimmyZip]

Yes, I am going to try the out of battery trick. Thanks for the replies.

I think this is the greatest thing since sliced bread! It was shown to me a couple of years ago, and really improved my trigger control. Proper dryfire makes you feel more and more comfortable at home behind the gun. I think that if you plan to carry, OR compete, dryfire makes you a better shooter. There is a smoothness that you will build up the more at home you are with your firearm.

Good luck!

[Chris iliff]

1. The Glock is the trickiest to dry fire with...you could keep presssing on the "dead" trigger (not ideal) but the out of battery trick is much better. You definitely should not reset the striker for every shot of a multi-shot drill.

2. There is value in slow motion dry fire, and there is value in high speed dry fire. One will perfect a technique, and the

other will speed it up!

Does that help?

This guy has a couple awesome books to help you with developing your dryfire routine. Just sayin'.

[TerryYu]

What would you guys recommend for a DA/SA Beretta? Should I be shooting it DA every time to get used to that trigger pull or should I use the card trick and attempt to get a close approximation of the SA trigger?

[DonovanM]

What would you guys recommend for a DA/SA Beretta? Should I be shooting it DA every time to get used to that trigger pull or should I use the card trick and attempt to get a close approximation of the SA trigger?

I had very good luck and made a good amount of progress shooting the first shot double action then just rowing the trigger up to where I knew the reset was and pressing it back again.

[Steve Anderson]

Here again, it depends.

If you are struggling with having a good accurate DA shot, then some time focused on that will yield dividends.

If you're more concerned with transitions and reloads and general gunhandling, you'd want to do the "don't let the trigger all the way out trick."

In general, I always prefer dryfire to be as realistic as possible, so I'd opt for option 2 as a default, and just release the trigger a little so as not to enage the DA stroke.

Hope that helps,

SA

[Steve Anderson]

Btw, I started with a Beretta and went down both roads, just not at the same time.

[TerryYu]

Btw, I started with a Beretta and went down both roads, just not at the same time.

I just got your book in the mail yesterday and read that in the introduction!

Since I've got your attention... did you find it a competitive disadvantage that the standard Beretta has tiny sights, or is that something that you can train away? I'm shooting a 92F with old iron sights with no real upgrade options aside from buying a new gun.

[Nimitz]

well I'm certainly no expert but it was my understanding that you use dry fire to perfect manipulation skills & live fire tp perfect the firing cycle, which includes proper trigger prep,pull & reset. That being the case, the focus of dry fire would not be to manage your trigger reset & 2nd shot trigger pull so it's ok to do only a single trigger pull on a dry fire drill.

I'm definitely going to talk with my instructor about the out of battery trick & see what he thinks about a free swinging trigger. Since I've never tried it I have no idea what it feels like compared to normal but I'd be a little worried about practicing something that feels different in dry fire than live fire ... but what do I know ...

[Steve Anderson]

I used beretta elite 1 and 2 models with better sights than the regular 92. If that's what you got, then that's what you use. If you can't change it, then forget about it and get to work.

[TerryYu]

I used beretta elite 1 and 2 models with better sights than the regular 92. If that's what you got, then that's what you use. If you can't change it, then forget about it and get to work.

Guess I better get to work.

Don't want to wuss out and go back to my g34.

[Shawneeboy87]

I shoot Limited and have a CZ CTS (SAO) and I tap the "dead" trigger after the first shot. I haven't felt like its affected me all that much, I just always tell myself before dryfiring, "DONT BE LAZY!" I make sure I don't tap that trigger until I see the sights.

I guess it depends on what you need to practice during dryfire. I try to focus more on following the front sight, my transitions, reloads, etc. and less on actual trigger pull. Is that the wrong thing to do?

[TerryYu]

Today as I was dry firing I notice that when I am doing a double action shot the front sight will stay steady up until the point where the trigger breaks. Then I notice that it will jiggle slightly to the right (the front sight moves but I can still see daylight between the rear posts) after the hammer falls (I'm left handed). Would this throw my shot off to the right, or will this push take place after the bullet has left the gun?

Seems more pronounced with a slow trigger pull, bit better if the trigger is pulled quickly. Doesn't happen with single action.

How do you guys develop the straight back pull that is necessary for a long and heavy double action? I am puzzling at the way my finger works, as curling it to pull the trigger creates a C shaped path through the air. Am I supposed to try and apply counter torque through the range of finger motion, or should I let my finger slide a bit on the trigger so that it rides straight back? Another way I've found is to really push the trigger finger forward and start the pull with the first joint touching the trigger and then visualizing pulling back at a 30 degree angle relative to the gun. That minimizes the sight bob but makes me pull the trigger with the first joint, which I have been told is very bad.

Hopefully this makes sense to someone, it's hard for me to explain exactly what is going on aside from

"double action = pulling sights to the right. can't figure out how to fix it!"

[Micah]

I'm a dryfire student of Steve Anderson, and have used it in conjunction of livefire training and studying to make GM with a Glock.

When I dryfire, I used to put a small piece of paper in the breech to allow free movement of the trigger. Now, I use something different that I developed over the winter. The link below explains what I did:

LINK

I hope that helps. Dryfire is worthless (just like livefire training) unless you have a specific set of drills that you do to train in the fundamentals, and the specific skill sets that you need to improve on.

[TerryYu]

I'm a dryfire student of Steve Anderson, and have used it in conjunction of livefire training and studying to make GM with a Glock.

When I dryfire, I used to put a small piece of paper in the breech to allow free movement of the trigger. Now, I use something different that I developed over the winter. The link below explains what I did:

I hope that helps. Dryfire is worthless (just like livefire training) unless you have a specific set of drills that you do to train in the fundamentals, and the specific skill sets that you need to improve on.

Thanks for the reply. That didn't answer my question directly, however that does give me an idea on how to dry fire with my glocks.

After sleeping on it, I think my question is, "How do I keep from twisting the gun right/left while pulling a long and heavy double action?"

[Steve Anderson]

After sleeping on it, I think my question is, "How do I keep from twisting the gun right/left while pulling a long and heavy double action?"

Now that you've isolated the problem, just design a drill for it. How about a slow draw to a small target with a perfect trigger pull on an acceptable sight picture?

I bet a hundred thousand of those would do the trick.

[Chucker]

I need to buy the book(s).

I've got a wierd problem with some times flinching away the first shot and getting the second shot spot on when doing controlled pairs. I think it's more of a mental thing getting all psyched out and bending my wrist down in anticipation of the first shot when I try to go faster. I seem to have less issue with 9mm vs .45.