4 REASONS DRY FIRE IS SMARTER THAN YOU THINK

We, at Aimpoint Professional Training, are around a lot of shooters. The majority are in the professional arena. These are people that carry guns for a living in some capacity or another. Now, don’t be fooled by the appellate, professional shooters come in a variety of stripes. There are those that literally just carry (and seldom shoot) their guns and others that invest themselves in the skill that is required to be great

The latter group dry fires as a matter of principle and eventually: habit. It's one of the things that make them perform so well with the gun. Let’s take a few lines and explore why that is. Why does dry fire matter? Why does it distinguish the shooter that does it, from those that don’t?

#1 Repetition Trains Your Brain

First and foremost, we think dry fire matters because it is “recency.” In other words, it is something you do often enough (via repetition) that it is available to you as a common skill. Imagine for a moment that you read the same book every day. You would become familiar enough with the pages that you would very likely not need to consult the book to gather its most essential ideas. Now compare that to a volume that you may pick up twice a year. Recency matters to a brain that is constantly managing capacity based on observed use.

#2 Freedom from Recoil

The next reason we think dry fire matters is because it is “free.” Most would probably think that we mean that we are not expending ammunition. While that’s true… we actually mean free of recoil, and of the energy flowing against us through the gun. If we do it right, what that means is that we can establish very good habits before we test them against the forces inherent to ignition. If we do it correctly enough and often enough, recoil becomes less of a commanding issue.

#3 The Importance of the Trigger is Nullified

The third reason is: trigger. If we only handle the gun when an explosion happens the little lever that makes that happen – the trigger – can become very important. So important that it displaces the most vital thing that we are required to do to be accurate: develop and maintain an aiming solution. This is one of the reasons new shooters, or seasoned shooters, anticipate the shot. Dry fire removes the feedback and allows us (tricks us) into executing perfect mechanics.

#4 Allows Us to Focus on the Mechanics of the Shot

Lastly, it teaches us “presence in the shot.” If we are dry firing correctly, we should be very aware of almost every input we are giving the gun. The red dot (or irons for you luddites) will show us what we are doing when we address the trigger, when we apply pressure and where. It will show us if we stop aiming the gun just before ignition (very, very common). It’ll teach us if our grip is supporting the shot or working against it, but most importantly it helps us stay with the shot until it passes. The trigger is just a “click” and requires no overt response.

In essence we are inverting the “teach” (see our past article). For most people that train exclusively with live fire, the recoil becomes the teacher and everything revolves around that. For the dry fire adherent, efficiency and good infrastructure becomes the chief concern (aka the “teach”).

Don’t mistake us, we have to make the gun go “bang” to test our technique and measure our results. It’s difficult for dry fire to tell us where the bullet actually goes.

But that doesn’t mean we always have to. Dry fire makes us better.

Until next time, train smart.

Author Bio

Duane “Buck” Buckner

After spending 25 years in the USCG, Duane “Buck” Buckner is now the U.S. Director of Training for Aimpoint. The Aimpoint Training Division conducts training courses for military and law enforcement agencies up to the Federal level as well as for the prepared civilian. Buck is widely known for his emphasis on brain psychology as it relates to combat and survival.

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