In times like these, with raising prices on everything, including ammo, coupled with a bad economy, everyone is looking to save money. Most of us cannot afford to shoot quite as often as we’d like. Many do not have the time or desire to reload.
For those who would like to improve their accuracy, skills, and overall abilities with a firearm, there are ways to hone those skills with limited range time. It’s called dry firing and is safe to do with many firearms. Of course, most people have heard of “dry firing” but in this article I would like to address the benefits of dry firing.
Sight alignment and trigger control are the two most important factors in shooting accuracy. Dry firing will help you hone these skills and it can be done for cheaper, usually at shorter notice, and will require little to no cleaning of the firearm afterwards, as well as generally result in less wear and tear on the firearm.
Dry firing can actually help to cure the “flinch” that some people develop from guns. This is particularly helpful for new shooters who wish to get comfortable with the gun before going to the range for the first time.
ALWAYS BE SURE THAT THE GUN IS UNLOADED WHEN YOU ARE DRY FIRING A FIREARM!
Some guns may require snap caps in order to do this with limited wear or to keep from damaging the gun unnecessarily (something especially needed in rimfires), so do some research before you actually dry fire with your gun.
Dry firing is one aspect of getting familiar with your weapon but I also highly recommend getting familiar with all of the controls on the weapon. Operate the safety, rack the slide/action, insert and remove magazines, field strip, reassemble, and practice drawing from a holster or shouldering while using your sling.
You can work on sight alignment without even pulling the trigger by doing many of these things. These are all methods you can use to become more proficient and capable with your weapon.
These methods of practicing and training will sharpen your skills. Remember that when you are in a real world life threatening situation, you will lose a lot of your fine motor skills. You will not rise to the occasion and you will not default to your level of training. You will only default to the level of training you have mastered.