Keeping Your Powder Dry

*WHEN DRY FIRING VERIFY VISUALLY AND PHYSICALLY THAT YOUR GUN IS UNLOADED

For those of you that go to the range to practice your shooting skills, you may have noticed that ammunition is extremely expensive and often difficult to find. There is no actual substitute for live fire – putting rounds down range. There are many good alternatives. Dry firing is a common way to practice your your firearm fundamentals. There are a number of apps and video programs out there. I have found 2 that Iike and use. They are both from MantisX. I am an affiliate but used the tools before I ever considered. I use both the Mantis X (This is no longer offered and I plan on upgrading to a new one within the next 6 months) It has been replaced with the Mantis X2. Check out what else they are offering. The MantisX give you a way to practice firing your gun, and it provided feedback. The feedback is really quite good. The other Mantis Product I use in their Laser Academy Training Kit – Standard. This is very easy to use and provided a different kind of feedback. The Laser Academy and the MantisX tools provide a gamification of practicing your fundamentals!

The feedback on the Laser Academy is great. I was using it with one of my students and he said it was like the best video game ever! For the AR-15 Platform, they even have a auto-reset function for it. It is not cheap, but given the price of ammunition – If you can find it, it is not a bad exchange of value.

Finding alternative ways to accomplish training is one way to keep your economic power dry, and continue to train. Another avenue to practicing is to get an airsoft gun closest to your gun. It does not have the identical trigger feedback like you get with the MantisX System, but you can practice gripping your gun correctly, and see if you move as you pull the trigger. For a review below are fundamentals of Handgun Marksmanship.

Fundamentals of Handgun Marksmanship.

  • Hand and Eye Dominance
  • Grip
  • Aiming
  • Breath Control
  • Hold Control
  • Trigger Control
  • Follow-Through

So how many of these can you practice without going to the range? It has been said that experts are only experts because they mastered the basics (fundamentals).

Any discussion about guns deserves a review of the safety rules.

The safety rules apply when dry firing as well.

NRA Gun Safety Rules

  1. I will always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
  2. I will always keep my finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
  3. I will always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

4 Universal Gun Safety Rules

  1. Treat all guns as if the are loaded all the time
  2. Never let the muzzle point at anything you do not wish to destroy.
  3. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to shoot.
  4. Be sure of your target and what is behind it.