"Ammunition manufacturers hate this trick..." - Why (and how) dry firing is still boss

When it comes to music, I am awfully untalented. Unpleasent voice, no rhythm at all, two left hands. But I managed it anyway to play the guitar on a somewhat decent level. How did I do that? Well, mostly, because talent is unbelievably overrated. In the end, it only matters for the absolute elite. Where the capacity to train is used to its maximum, physically and psychologically. For the rest of us, training on a regular base is everything.

And why should this principle not also apply when handling firearms?

Before you say, hey, I cannot go shooting everyday and even if I could, that would get very expensive very quick: that's true. Neither can I. And neither do I have a shooting range in my basement. But what I have, is my own appartement. And now I stand and say that you can train almost (!) everything without firing a single round. (And no, I'm not saying, that you could do sport shooting without real firearms. Quite the opposite actually. All I am saying is, that you can do a lot of training for firing live ammunition without the the latter).

Trainings advice for dry fire is abundant. I don't win a price by rephrasing it – and neither should I. Rather than that, I will give some insight to the science behind it and give a few point, that I at least did not read yet (because I think, that there are a lot of people way smarter than me, that came tpo the same conclusions much quicker).

Repetition

„Repetition is the first principle of all learning" is the title of a scientific paper that I recite a lot. The Paper is about the science behind human learning. And my main point is already in its title. When I want to learn anything (and especially if I still want to do it under pressure) I've got to do it a lot. 1000 repetitions for learning, 10000 for forgetting something thats wrong.  Don't cite me on the exact numbers. but you get the point. Therefore, it is crucial to do the right technique from the beginning. At this point, one does especially benefit from supervision in form of a good training course. This does not do the work for you, but gives you the correct technique to learn from the start.

Frequency beats volume

10 minutes a day does more for you than 70 minutes once a week. Of course more than 10 minutes is ok, but high traning volume does diminish the frequency of training. And the frequency is correlated to your training progress in the end. For Example: we all have learned for some important test at one point in our lifes. Be it a final exam, the hunting license, just think about the biggest test you took. Now ask yourself: how much do i still know of the stuff I once learned? Now think about, how much you would know if you never took the test, but however spend every day since then learning 10 minutes a day about the topic we are speaking about. So?

Reflection

When dry firing, there are mainly two things missing when comparing to live fire: the bullet leaving the barrel punching a hole in the paper. And then there is recoil (and with that, reloading when firing a semi-automatic). Former, I don't see as that much of a loss (for training). Why? On the one hand, an advanced shooter should be able to self-analyze his trigger work and breaking of the trigger. Without recoil, you are very able to see your front sight respectively your red dot the whole time. And see it moving when it shouldn't. On the other hand, there are a lot of skills not ending with firing a shot. And looking at the paper does nothing when judging those skills. Instead, we have reflection of ourselves. Is my grip perfect right now? Do I stand correctly after drawing my firearm? Am I in the natural point of aim? Does focusing the target or my front sight work for me?

If you can answer all this with „yes“ - then get a timer. It is time, to do all of this faster now.

So what about airsoft?

I admit, even when one is capable to reflect of him- or herself: there's more fun in looking for holes in the target. So, as a fun alternative dry fire, there is training with an airsoft replica. This has some advantages, but also some dangers (no, i am not talking about getting hit by your BB pellets...). We will do another article just about that. Stay tuned!