Outdoor dry fire

[a2holes]

I have a two car garage I usually dry fire in.

 

With the novel corona virus my live fire has been limited.

 

Is there any added value to outdoor dry fire that you feel you get over indoor?

 

I am looking for ways to improve with training with less than ideal live fire conditions.

 

Thanks!

[forty5cal1911]

I think so.

 

Anything you can do to mimic the live environment is a plus particularly if you have the ability to set up a mock stage or some of the drills in Steve Anderson's "Refinement and Repetition" book.

[BoyGlock]

Definitely for me. In my not so younger days I dry fire in my garden. The natural lighting, distance of targets, change of visual focus, sun, wind, ground terrain, etc. made for realistic match settings. 

[Jmo2011]

In the colder months of the year I have to dry fire inside with reduced size targets. Warmer temperatures allows me outside. I notice a difference when doing the same drills indoor vs. outdoor. I find the outdoor much better for match skill development and realism but indoors is fine for gun handling and repetition   Indoor requires a stronger mental focus for me to get a sense of realism from it.  I also have to be careful not to put too much emphasis on par times and not enough on calling good shots. 

[rovpilot337]

I agree that dry firing outside is more fun than inside. I feel like it is more like the real thing when I can run around since my dry fire space inside is limited. 

[SweetToof]

I have a pretty decent indoor dryfire setup in my basement, but there are definitely some advantages to outdoors.

 

I think the biggest will be the way your eyes react to scaled targets vs. actual targets at different distances.

 

Something else I noticed is the ground/vs basement floor. Depending on the surface your're running on outside, there can be a big difference in position exit and entry. Sandy dirt vs. smooth concrete is a big deal.

[duffdawg]

i always dry fired outdoors unless i was working on reloads or something like that

[rowdyb]

natural light, ground surface. usually a longer sight line. if the neighbors don't care I prefer it.

[Paul-the new guy]

I had the police called on me a couple of years ago for doing movement and dry fire outside. I had privacy fence on 3 sides but chain link across the front so the dog could see out.  Neighbor called and said I was aiming firearms at her and her kids... Surprisingly the police showed up and we had a decent conversation.  I pointed out that for her to see me she had to be on my property, a vacant lot next door that I also owned. 

[38SuperWes]

On 5/4/2020 at 10:59 AM, Paul-the new guy said:

I had the police called on me a couple of years ago for doing movement and dry fire outside. I had privacy fence on 3 sides but chain link across the front so the dog could see out.  Neighbor called and said I was aiming firearms at her and her kids... Surprisingly the police showed up and we had a decent conversation.  I pointed out that for her to see me she had to be on my property, a vacant lot next door that I also owned. 

Question for Paul...so there is nothing illegal about dry fire in your backyard in Florida correct? 

[Distant Thunder]

So, the consensus is that, be it indoors or out, dry fire matters?

[RangerTrace]

The most important thing I found, back when I was dry firing frequently is if you do it inside, made sure to have A LOT of light to help you focus on your front sight.  Otherwise, you are training yourself to accept a less that perfect front sight picture.

[stick]

If you have the ability to dry fire outside it will definitely be more beneficial than indoor dry firing.  First and foremost, Outside will allow natural light and the conditions to simulate what you will see in a match.  The sun, glare, wind and the other elements you can't simulate indoors will help your shooting progress.

[rowdyb]

And if you have 7 to 10 yards you can dry fire on a full size target! Not the dinky reduced ones we all use indoors.

[motosapiens]

On 5/4/2020 at 8:59 AM, Paul-the new guy said:

I had the police called on me a couple of years ago for doing movement and dry fire outside. I had privacy fence on 3 sides but chain link across the front so the dog could see out.  Neighbor called and said I was aiming firearms at her and her kids... Surprisingly the police showed up and we had a decent conversation.  I pointed out that for her to see me she had to be on my property, a vacant lot next door that I also owned. 

 

I freaked out my neighbors accidentally, and I don't really blame them. They had recently moved in and the previous neighbors for 10+ years literally NEVER used the back yard. I went over and talked to them, and showed them my dry-fire magazines (dummy rounds, plastic spacer at the top), and explained that my competition guns are never ever loaded except at the range but I check them every time anyway, and then I moved the targets to the side fence so I wouldn't be pointing directly at their house. If you actually know your neighbors, It might be worth a proactive conversation to educate them... Or just lie to them and say it's an unloaded airsoft gun....

[Paul-the new guy]

On 7/3/2020 at 1:33 PM, 38SuperWes said:

Question for Paul...so there is nothing illegal about dry fire in your backyard in Florida correct? 

It guess it is kind of a gray area.  I showed the LEO that responded the targets i had set up and what I was doing.  If it had been standing at the fence with the pistol in my hand cursing at them it may have been a different story...  

[rowdyb]

Are you in or out of city limits? What are your state's rules about brandishing a firearm? This is definitely where an airsoft version of your pistol could be legally helpful.

[SGT_Schultz]

Reason 234,561,928,610 why I'd rather have no neighbors for miles.

 

Southwestern Kansas fits my idea of a perfect retirement location.

[38SuperWes]

On 7/6/2020 at 8:25 AM, Paul-the new guy said:

It guess it is kind of a gray area.  I showed the LEO that responded the targets i had set up and what I was doing.  If it had been standing at the fence with the pistol in my hand cursing at them it may have been a different story...  

Copy...  

 

[Smokecloud]

Don't stop at dryfiring outside, take it to the range.  First time I tried a dry fire session at the range, I flinched.  it really surprised me, I knew the gun was empty, but there was a sense of realism and expectation from having a gun him my hand at the range where I normally shoot.  I started doing more dry firing at the range and then set up 6 magazines with dummy rounds and an occasional live round.  I shuffled the mags around and loaded one.  At the range, with eyes and ears on, sometimes 3 live bullets in a mag, sometimes 6, sometimes 4.  It cured the flinch I had developed.  This drill is just backwards of the ones I put my trainees through, where we would have a full mag that someone else loaded and on occasion there would be a dummy round, usually 3 to 5 dummy's in each mag.  

[Bigdeal929]

I’ve really thought about dry fire in my back yard but I’m afraid the neighbors will get the law involved.

[Zincwarrior]

On 7/4/2020 at 3:24 PM, rowdyb said:

And if you have 7 to 10 yards you can dry fire on a full size target! Not the dinky reduced ones we all use indoors.

My apologies for the stupid question, but how do you dry fire outside in a yard situation? Are you nailing them to the fence or how do you set that up? Old fart minds want to know...

[Sarge]

34 minutes ago, Zincwarrior said:

My apologies for the stupid question, but how do you dry fire outside in a yard situation? Are you nailing them to the fence or how do you set that up? Old fart minds want to know...

Probably make target stands?

[Zincwarrior]

3 minutes ago, Sarge said:

Probably make target stands?

I imagine so.  We have a fully fenced back yard and now that the wiener dog is so old he doesn't go off the patio, there is available space, and wife is ok with the idea - promises not to laugh.

[Sarge]

1 hour ago, Zincwarrior said:

I imagine so.  We have a fully fenced back yard and now that the wiener dog is so old he doesn't go off the patio, there is available space, and wife is ok with the idea - promises not to laugh.

If I had available fencing I’d definitely use it