Dry-Firing

[JimT]

Since I was injured I have not been able to get to the Range. My right hand was not working well anyway. I am starting to get feeling back in my thumb and forefinger on the right hand, so I started dry-firing in order to stay proficient. I know what I am going to share is well known by most members here. Just take it as a reminder, not as a lecture.

Safety MUST be the Priority!
Always DOUBLE-CHECK that the firearm is unloaded.
DO NOT HAVE ANY LOADED AMMO IN THE SAME VICINITY.
When you are done dry-firing PUT THE FIREARM AWAY and do not touch it OR ANOTHER ONE for at least ONE HOUR!

When you perform a specific action repeatedly, the synapses in the brain fire in a pattern. That pattern will cause a person to do something they had no intention of doing at the time unless steps are taken to break the pattern. Give your brain time to re-set. I have lots of horror stories about negligent discharges after dry-firing. Some are kinda funny because no one was injured, but the truth is, bullets flying around are no joke.

TARGETS
Always dry-fire in a direction that … IF a live round were fired ... no one in the building or nearby would be injured or killed. A concrete wall or a direction where there is a good backstop is what you need.

For trigger control:
I use a dot that appears to be just a bit smaller than the width of the front sight.
This allows me to practice squeezing the trigger without moving the sights off the target.
20 practice dry-fired shots are a good starter. You will get wobbly. Over time the muscles will strengthen and you will be able to hold the gun on target for extended periods.

I also use a ping-pong ball on a string. The ball is swung back and forth and I practice squeezing the trigger so that I am on the ball when the hammer falls.

I also practice pulling the gun from the holster, poking it at the ball and actually poking the ball with the muzzle as the trigger is pulled.

PRACTICE FOR SMOOTHNESS, NOT FOR SPEED.
Smooth is fast.
If you have the muscle memory in the "computer", speed will come with surprise. You will do it without thinking about it. For instance, I was walking across the desert talking to a friend. As I took a step I saw a diamondback rattler coiled where my right foot was going to land. Somehow I went up in the air off my left foot, pulled the Single Six and shot the rattler in the head before I landed. I cannot draw that fast and shoot that accurately when I deliberately try it.

ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK THAT THERE IS NO LOADED AMMUNITION ANY PLACE AROUND YOU. DOUBLE-CHECK THE DUMMY ROUNDS. YOU CANNOT BE TOO SAFE.

ALWAYS- ALWAYS PUT THE FIREARM AWAY AFTER YOU HAVE PRACTICED AND DO NOT TOUCH ANY FIREARM FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Very good advice Jim.

[Bill in Oregon]

I learned something new -- about not touching another firearm for an hour or so.

[JimT]

I have lots of stories of those who I warned about this, and they did not pay attention to it. If you have spent 1/2 hour or more dry firing and you pick up a gun afterwards the odds are you will fire it.

[GunnyMack]

All great points Jim. I'm happy you are feeling up to getting your irons out!

Many moons ago a buddy was dry firing a S&W 27. He was using an oil painting of a red headed woodpecker, the eye specifically as his aiming point. He left the room when his mom called him. Unbeknownst after he left his dad came in the room, reloaded the revolver, put it back in the desk drawer. A little while later my buddy comes back to finish homework. He first decided to dry fire some more. BOOM! the folks come running up the stairs to find their son dumbfounded by the noise. With ringing ears and shock he explained he was dry firing when Dad says you forgot the first rule! Then Dad said what were you shooting at? I was aiming at the eye of the woodpecker. Dad goes and looks at the painting, sees a hole about an inch low, walks back across to the desk, picks up the gun and gives it 1 click UP and leaves the room. We still laugh about what his dad did.

[Griff]

In the Navy we were given hand-to-hand combat training... then got more in the CA Sheriff's Dept, where we were taught what to do if we had a gun pointed at us. The stated goal was to make the guy who points a gun at a cop, die. During the couple of sessions of practice, I think we all got pretty good at it.

Anyway, fast forward to the early '90s and the Sheriff here in TX hired a martial arts instructor out of Dallas to teach all his sworn officers how to do a 'gun-take-away". The instructor demonstrated his technique with his assistant for about a half hour. 1st in slow motion, then sped up. He then asked for a volunteer... when none emerged, he selected me, "...as the oldest and maybe the slowest guy here." So he had me stand in front of him with the gun (water pistol), about 2' from my chest. He said, "when I make the decision to shoot, take the gun outta my hand." The moment came and my training kicked in... I stepped into him, blading myself, grabbed his gun hand, yanked him forward with the gun going past me, flipped him over my hip, onto the ground on his back, my finger over his on the trigger and a rapidly expanding puddle in the middle of his chest. I can't say I was surprised, but... everyone else in the gym was, and I only stopped when I finally recognized several shouts of "GRIFF! GRIFF! GRIFF!" The Sheriff excused me from the class with the admonishment not to teach any of his other deputies that method. The second time I'd had actual experience that reinforced the concept that "Training Works".

[Bill in Oregon]

Dang we need a like button!

[Ysabel Kid]

I have lots of stories of those who I warned about this, and they did not pay attention to it. If you have spent 1/2 hour or more dry firing and you pick up a gun afterwards the odds are you will fire it.

I can easily see it happening though!

[BobM]

Some people advise to tell yourself, out loud, that dry fire is now over.

[44shooter]

Great advice.

Embarrassingly I have done just that. I had dry fired so many times indoors without incident for decades. One night I was dry firing a revolver, finished and dropped the moon clip back in. While exiting my home office I spotted an electrical socket which along with doorknobs are popular sighting targets for me. Before I knew it, BOOM. I bounced a 45 slug off the hardwood floor and through the wall into the kitchen cabinet. The bullet opened the cabinet door enough to fall in front of the sink with the door closed behind it. Luckily, I missed the socket!

I still dry fire but still get spooked when I load back up. I don’t think I am stupid but it was a stupid thing to do. Muscle memory and unconscious habit are real things. Be careful and mindful.

[JimT]

Thanks for sharing that. A lot of us have done similar things. These days when I load a gun in the house I repeat out loud 10 times "The gun is loaded. The gun is loaded." I want that stuck in my brain.

[jeepnik]

Funny how someone mentions something and an old memory kicks in. Have a buddy who had finished dry firing practice. Loaded his handgun and set it down to open the door for his cat. He picked up the handgun and he inadvertently shot his cat. Good news was the cat survived, minus one ear. It was that close. I don't think his wife has forgiven him yet. Even professional gun handlers, in this case a deputy sheriff can make mistakes.

[piller]

Good advice all around. I was also taught that all guns are loaded unless you unloaded it while holding it. Maybe that one is still loaded. Check it again.

[High Desert Hunter]

Great advice! Distractions, firearms, and ammunition can be a horrible combination.

Dave

[Lastmohecken]

Very good advice for sure.

[samsi]

I learned something new -- about not touching another firearm for an hour or so.

Me too, it makes sense. I was doing a lot of dry fire around home recently along with daily carry and a couple range days in a row, and I felt like I was walking a fine line with the dry fire at one point. Now I know what that feeling was.

[stretch]

All good advice.

I like the bit about waiting for an hour after a dry-firing session.

Thanks for sharing.

I've been years in the habit of checking a gun whenever I handle it.
Every. Single. Time.
Pull it out of the range bag? Check it.
Pull it out of the safe? Check it.
Pick it up off the dresser to put it in the holster? Check it.

Obsessive/compulsive? You bet!
No harm in it, and it just may save my bacon!

-Stretch

[JimT]

Yes Stretch. And if you're like me, you want those around you doing the same thing.

[JOG]

Sound advice to live by!

[marlinman93]

When I competed in Bullseye .22 matches I spent many hours with a snap cap in my target pistol practicing trigger pull and aim in my basement gun room. With a snap cap in the chamber it's tough to get a loaded round in there also. My target pistol was a Beeman Unique '69 in 22LR, so it didn't have a magazine disconnect and I could remove the mag before practicing also.

[AJMD429]

.
Yes - the 'habit' and 'routine' have to be rigid. I also fear that after practicing draw/dryfire, I may forget to treat the recently-empty gun as 'hot' once I re-load it.

I always load it and PUT IT AWAY in the appropriate safe where the guns in it are always loaded.

We have the 'storage' safe where all is silicone wiped and unloaded and so on, the 'usage' safe where guns are 'ready' but need a magazine inserted or otherwise loaded before use), and a couple 'hot' rapid-access safes (or other 'arrangements') where the guns there are ALWAYS loaded - my special/fancy/hobby guns are in the first two, but ONLY guns that everyone in the household knows how to fire well are in the third category, and they are always loaded, so in the event of a home invasion or whatever, all family members can count on loaded firepower at-hand.

So... once a gun is back in the 'hot' safe location, my brain expects it to be loaded. (Of course I check all guns prior to holstering the CCW ones, or prior to handling the others)

Fortunately, I'm not one of those guys who "has never had a negligent discharge" - I've had 'just enough' of them to make me MORE careful than I'd be if I'd never had "an unloaded gun" go off. (Kind of like when your kid has their first car wreck and calls to apologize for dinging up the family car - as a parent you are GLAD for it - they are alive (or wouldn't be calling) and they LEARNED a lesson that only an accident can really teach.)

[JimT]

If a person has a negligent discharge and survives it and no one and nothing more is injured than the ego and the hearing ... that person is VERY SAFETY MINDED for quite some time. (from personal experience )

[stretch]

Yessir. THAT will get your attention!

I was out deer hunting one time with an older Model 94.

It was raining. My neighbor and I walked out into the woods a bit and loaded up.
As I was lowering the hammer to half-cock, my thumb slipped off the worn hammer
and, BLAM!!! Everything was pointed in a safe direction, so no actual harm was done.

But it DID get both my and my neighbor's attention!

Ralph said, "That's why I go hunting with you. I know of something goes wrong,
you're not gonna shoot me!"

Rule #2 - The Golden Rule: Don't point the darned thing at anything you don't want to destroy!

-Stretch

[marlinman93]

I assume every gun in my house is loaded, until I check to see they aren't. There are only a few that are loaded, but if you become complacent about firearms and assume one isn't loaded, then that's when accidents happen. The vast majority of accidental discharges are with guns someone thought were unloaded. So I never think any of mine are unloaded.