Dry fire is just that: one goes through all the conventional motions and procedures involved in actually shooting one’s particular firearm sans live ammunition. It’s simulated (in a sense) marksmanship practice. It’s also essential if you want to attain and maintain good marksmanship skills. This is where one can concentrate on, and hone, all the fundamentals except recoil management. Dry fire being convenient and/or cheap practice is NOT the reason it’s done. I believe all branches of the United States military still use dry fire training, some extensively.
Dry training is, to me at least, learning to safely and efficiently use the firearm, as you intended to be used, without actually discharging it, i.e. no live ammo. A classic example of this would be practicing the draw or presentation of your pistol. Personally, I never liked training only in draw and fire because I didn’t want to develop an automatic shoot response due to procedural learning.
Therefore, sometimes I’d shoot and sometimes I wouldn’t. Sometimes I’d draw and fire from the holster top and other times I draw, come to full extension, and simply cover my mythical assailant. Thus “not all dry training involves dry fire”. Other examples of training that should be performed dry are the loading and reloading of one’s firearm of choice and, for automatic firearms, the various forms of the “tap, rack, bang” or malfunction immediate action drill.
Therefore, dry training (and practice) is essentially everything involved in learning to use (to include tactics), carry, and maintain the firearm, as your shooting discipline requires, all performed without the arm being loaded.
Out of necessity I discovered dry training for myself, many years ago. I lived in Chicago back then and most of the ranges were indoor, target or “square” type ranges, usually in the back of a Gun Shop. Honestly, if there were any combat ranges intended for civilians back then, I was not aware of them. As I recall, the American Pistol Institute recently opened in 1976 (a timeline reference, not an endorsement). That was, I believe, the first self-defense shooting school open to ordinary citizens. In those days, everything for the armed citizen seemed to be geared towards bullseye shooting. Thus my live fire training/practice was mainly square range, paper-punching, though I did the most with it that I could.
Moving on. To figure out what to do with my self defense weapon of choice, aside from shooting paper targets at 25 and 50-feet, I had to figure things out for myself and experiment with the concepts I came up with, all at home. I had some legitimate formal and informal training prior to this and was fairly well read on the subject, hence I knew safety was of paramount importance (please reference “Joe Doakes' warning” above). Basically, I went from there; I kept reading, discussing, and experimenting, and dry firing and dry training. To an extent I still do. All things considered, I feel I learned a hell of a lot, both good and bad. Especially so on those rare occasions when I was allowed to test what I’d learned using live fire.
One more type of training and practice I eventually discovered for myself was, what could best be described by me as, imaginary training. I’d learn a procedure, say loading my pistol for example. Once I had it down pat physically, I found myself thinking the procedure through, carefully visualizing step by step, usually in moments of boredom. Like in a waiting room or laying in bed unable to fall asleep and so forth. You’d be amazed at what you can commit to memory this way. One caveat is you’d better know how to do the technique safely and correctly or you’ll memorize sloppy or bad (or dangerous) habits. You can also go through the physical motions while you mentally visualize the method. A caveat here is I highly recommend you do this in private or an observer will think you’re nuts (please don’t ask me how I found that out 😥).
To conclude, I take no credit for originating anything I mentioned above and had no intent to imply such. Only in discovering it for myself could I be so accredited. Dry firing is as old as the hills and was taught to me at a young age. The others I picked up on my own, nevertheless I am quite certain that I am not the first person to think of these methodologies. Frankly, I’m just not that smart. Also, everything I’ve written is simply what I did and still do. I did the best I could with the means I had available. Each of these factors was shaped by my individual reality during that period. Sadly, it was a somewhat different world back then.
Please remember, in all things firearms related, keep your wits about you, use your common sense, think things through, and remember safety first, last, and always.
Joe Doakes aka Kilogulf59
Integrated Close Combat Forum
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Please note: prior to commenting or passing judgment, either in a positive or negative manner, I suggest you read About Joe Doakes’ Place and the Disclaimer
assuming you haven't already. Thank you.
