Dry Fire Tip

[zhunter]

Ok, I have been very complacent the past 7 months and not done any dry firing, mainly because I had not been shooting at all. Today I decided to get serious and get after it.

Normally I have a magazine with ONE dummy round for dry fire reloads.

But....

I decided to fill the magazine up today to have more realistic practice for both weight of the magazine and the resistance of seating a magazine that is full.

I noticed that I did not seat the magazine nearly as well when full. (the happens very occasionally in matches)

The consistency was also not nearly as good with a full magazine as opposed to a nearly empty magazine.

Hope this helps some of you out there.

OK, back to dry firing for me.

[CSEMARTIN]

Great post!! I made the same observation and have been practicing reloads with a full magazine. It does make a difference.

[TM262]

What kind of Pistol? I notice it more with my .45 ACP Chip mags, but not so much with my XD mags. When I am using the Chips, I sometimes catch the follower when performing a reload if I do not have a dummy round in the magazine.

[ChuckS]

Ok, I have been very complacent the past 7 months and not done any dry firing, mainly because I had not been shooting at all. Today I decided to get serious and get after it.

Normally I have a magazine with ONE dummy round for dry fire reloads.

But....

I decided to fill the magazine up today to have more realistic practice for both weight of the magazine and the resistance of seating a magazine that is full.

I noticed that I did not seat the magazine nearly as well when full. (the happens very occasionally in matches)

The consistency was also not nearly as good with a full magazine as opposed to a nearly empty magazine.

Hope this helps some of you out there.

OK, back to dry firing for me.

Yup,

I found that I HAD to use a full mag when getting used to a single stack with a mag well. The same goes for open. The balance of a full bigstick is real different from an open gun that is empty. I have just made up a set of each kind of dummy round for the loads that I use and I include a wood dowel inside to keep the bullet from setback. The dowel allows multiple practices of unloaded starts.

Good tip!

Chuck

[zhunter]

I am using a .45 SS with Wilson magazines.

Caspian frame and slide if that matters.

.45 or any other caliber, I don't see ANY downside to dry firing with full magazines.

Edited November 18, 2008 by zhunter

[sirveyr]

I learned the hard way about dry firing with empty mags. When I practiced slide-lock reloads, I always used empty mags. I really f*#ked myself numerous times at both the MI IDPA champs and the IDPA nationals, by dropping the slide a split second before the mag was seated. I lost at least two stages at each match because of this. Clearing malfs does not keep you in contention for any hardware at the end of the day.

I feel that if I had practiced with dummy rounds, I may have broken myself of this habit before it became ingrained in my sub-conscious mind.

When I make my dummy rounds, I use de-primed Hornady TAP brass, because it's black, or nickel cases with no powder and a bullet, so I cannot get it confused with my "real" ammo. I'm not a big fan of the orange plastic 9mm chunks or the "blue mags". What do you guys use?

Edited November 18, 2008 by sirveyr

[zhunter]

I just use a round with NO powder and NO primer.

I am careful with what goes on.

edited to add: I don't rack rounds in Dry Fire

Edited November 18, 2008 by zhunter

[j1b]

This is a very true observation.

I'm too the point where it's more difficult to load empty magazines. A condition I don't mind.

J

[nwb01]

I have been using fully loaded mags (with dummy rounds) for awhile now. The only way to dryfire is to simulate live fire as close as possible.

[Delta Mike]

This is a good argument for shooting a revolver!

[boz1911]

Good post , Z. I use 40 caliber mags loaded with dummy rounds when I dryfire with my 9 major open gun. The extra weight of the 40's kinda makes up for fewer rounds. Also makes sure I cannot chamber a round.

Since I have been dryfiring the POG for the last two weeks, I have been using naked mags. Reloading this thing is a different animal without a giant magwell . The timing is slightly different. With my open gun once the mag is relatively close to the magwell, I stop looking at the gun and acquire the target. With the POG I have to focus until the mag is started into the gun, then acquire the target.

I feel like when I go back to shooting with giant magwells, my technique should actually be better.

We'll see

[kgunz11]

I giggle every time he calls the Glock a Piece Of Garbage

[zhunter]

I feel like when I go back to shooting with giant magwells, my technique should actually be better.

We'll see

I ONLY dry fire SS, on the odd occasion I get out the 6" Limited guy, reloads are a joke.

OK, todays, experiment, Practicing draws with a fully loaded magazine. It does make a difference, and actually feels better.

[eric nielsen]

A few years back I had to stop doing dryfire mag change practice with full mags because of a cyst in my left wrist. There is a complicated set of synovial joints & sacs in your wrist so just be careful.

Here's a tip that made a big difference for me: Using a timer, do your normal mag changes & speed up to the split time you usually get when warmed up. Then do a few mag changes with NO movement of your stronghand thumb - assuming this is how you hit the mag release. You'll have to start with no mag in the gun for this.

You might be surprised to find that you had a sequence of things going on with that thumb and when you stop doing them, your whole mag change might get shorter by .1 or .2 seconds or more. If this is true, now you will want to really look at what you want your thumb to do, and when.

Less is more.

Edited November 23, 2008 by eric nielsen

[boz1911]

I feel like when I go back to shooting with giant magwells, my technique should actually be better.

We'll see

I ONLY dry fire SS, on the odd occasion I get out the 6" Limited guy, reloads are a joke.

The reloads with the Limited gun are a joke?? If that's what you mean than the question is why???

[zhunter]

I feel like when I go back to shooting with giant magwells, my technique should actually be better.

We'll see

I ONLY dry fire SS, on the odd occasion I get out the 6" Limited guy, reloads are a joke.

The reloads with the Limited gun are a joke?? If that's what you mean than the question is why???

Yes, with all of the SS Dry Firing I do, Limited Reloads are a joke, that big hole is EZPZ to hit, no slop

[John Dunn]

One thing to consider while dry firing with a mag loaded with dummy rounds. I like an empty mag in the gun to get a realistic idea of mag exit. I've found that if I cant the gun too soon after pressing the mag release, an empty mag may hang up just enough that I crash into it with the reload. If you are just using a loaded mag they tend to squirt out much slicker. This has taught me to keep the gun more vertical for just a bit before angling for the new mag. Maybe we need a discussion on mag flicking next!

Edited to add I like to seat a loaded mag for the reason's listed by Z

Edited November 23, 2008 by John Dunn

[PatD]

I use the blue mag that simulates the weight and feel of a loaded magazine. it's only been mentioned once in this thread but I think it works well and I don't have to worry about banging up one of my regular magazines.

I agree that dropping a full magazine is easier than dropping an empty one which is why I do the "flick" to make sure that mag is out of the way before the new mag ever hits the magwell. I recently got beat up by some shooting friends about the "flick" as they consider it wasted motion. Not sure how much time I am actually losing by doing this but it cannot be much. Do top shooters use the "flick" technique?

[Flexmoney]

If your buddies are telling you that you are wasting time, then listen to them.

[Micah]

My world was flipped upside down when I began dryfiring with mags loaded with dummy ammo. Everything changed.

Lately, I like to work in dropping an empty mag, or a mag with only 2 rounds in it, as it is those situations that I will most often encounter at a match (shooting Production).

[Glen517]

I've been practicing with full mags since I started dry fire. Has really helped my reloading at the matches. As for dummy loads I made mine out of blazer aluminum. No chance in getting live ammo.

[John2A]

I have been using Steve Anderson's book for a few months. In it I think that he states that he does not drop a mag from the gun while doing reloads just goes through his motions. I might try some of the drills with an empty mag and see if there is a difference in the times. I have a good base now and there maybe a difference. I have found that my reloads are 60% smoother with the SS after using this for about a month. I do use a loaded mag with Nickle brass and bullets no primers for the full mag.

[Rob D]

There is DEFINITELY a difference between practicing with loaded and unloaded mags. When I started shooting matches back in april, I immediatley started doing dry-fire reloads with empty mags. Over the next few matches, I averaged 1-2 dropped mags per match. I wouldn't seat them firmly enough and they would fall out as I went to set my support-hand grip.

Got Steve Anderson's book, loaded a set of dummy rounds(no primers and no powder), and started doing practice reloads with properly weighted mags. I've yet to drop one since then.

For safety, I keep my dummy rounds in a box marked "dummy rounds" next to my half-scale targets and other dry-fire stuff. I make sure to check every single round to make sure it doesn't have a primer before I load it into a mag.

[markwilliston]

Great thread,

I keep my dummy (no primer,no powder) rounds in a plastic bag on my desk with my dryfire timer, steve anderson book, and spreadsheet for times. I keep the mag loaded for dryfire drills and for reloads I use 2 mags. The one coming out of the belt is full and the one dropping out of the gun has one left in it (so that it's light).

[kevin c]

I used to use the blue mags, but they kept wearing out at the catch cut out and started falling out of the gun.

I used dummy rounds in my Para mags when I shot Limited, b/c there was just too huge a difference in weight between an empty and a full mag with 21 rounds of 200 grainers in it. Of course, my toes, and, occasionally, my nice Grams basepads would take a beating if I dropped a full mag.

Now I use 10 rounds of 9mm in a plastic Glock mag for Production, and the weight differential seems inconsequential. I reload empty.