Shooting is a difficult skill. Almost no one is a “natural.” Real shooters know it takes hard work and discipline and, even when you achieve a level of proficiency, you realize that it is a perishable skill. Consistent practice is the only way to maintain aptitude.

However, it is just not practical to live fire all the time, especially in these days of high ammunition prices. This is where dry-fire practice comes in. Dry-fire training is how nearly all high-level shooters, from civilian competitors to Tier One military operators, develop and maintain their skills.

Simply put, dry fire is the practice of simulating the discharge of a firearm without any live ammunition. So how do you start?

Safety
 

As with all things related to firearms, safety should be your first consideration. Even though we are practicing without ammo, all firearms safety rules continue to apply – treat all guns as if they were loaded. 

Next, no ammunition should be in the same room as where you will be practicing. You don’t even want the possibility of live ammo to be around. This is one reason why a dedicated dry-fire area is helpful.

Finally, ensure you have a safe backstop. Remember, bullets go through walls, floors, and ceilings. Plan accordingly.

When to Practice

Many beginners overthink the time commitment of dry fire. They envision an intense 1-hour session with intricate drills testing all aspects of shooting. While you can do this, I don’t think it’s the optimal way to train. I believe consistency and simplicity are the key. Five minutes of training done every day is better than 1 hour done once a month. If you can get in 5 minutes of solid, focused dry-fire training five times a week, that’s 1 hour and 40 minutes of good practice a month. You can work up to 10 and 15-minute sessions. For me, I’ve found that any more than that and I start losing focus. I just start going through the motions as opposed to getting in good reps.

My trick is that I leave my dry-fire equipment all set up in a dedicated safe area. Every time I walk by the setup, I do a few repetitions. Since I work from home and the practice area is outside my office, I end up doing lots of reps. Of course, you will have to figure out something to fit your living situation, but the key is to make it into your daily routine.
 

What to Practice

I believe there is the most to gain from practicing the fundamentals. In nearly all sports, advanced techniques are usually just the basics done at a high level. For shooting, these are grip/structure, sight acquisition, and trigger control. This is the majority of my practice. 

The next things I would work on are your weakest skills. Most people usually practice their strongest skills because it feels good to do things fast and well. However, if it’s already your strongest skill, how much better will you get at it? Typically, people will see the most gains out of working on their weakest skills because there is lots of room to grow.

One way to pinpoint a weak area is to diagnose your last time on the range. If it was a competition, where did you lose the most time/points? What skill can you isolate that would have improved the outcome? 

For a long time, I had trouble finding targets in my scope. I would see the target, but when I looked through the scope, I would not be able to find it. So, for months, I would just practice seeing a target downrange and then finding it in my scope. I would not even pull the trigger. The target could be anything like a leaf or a rock. 

I find beginners have trouble with getting into unconventional positions and trigger pull under time stress. To practice positions, you first need a barricade. You can build a barricade. There are many plans for DIY shooting barricades online. However, you can also just use a chair or ladder. It doesn’t need to be complicated.  

Once you have your barricade, practice smoothly getting into a difficult position such as a low, reverse kneel. Go slow and be deliberate in your movements. Once you are comfortable with the position, start timing yourself. At the beginning, it might take you 50 seconds to get into position, find your target and pull the trigger. Set your timer to 45 seconds. Once you can easily perform the task in the allotted time, lower your time by 5 seconds. See how fast you can get while remaining safe and delivering a good trigger pull that does not disturb your sights.
 

Where to Practice
 

The beauty of dry fire is that you can practice almost anywhere. Convenience is usually the most important factor. You probably won’t do your 5-minute practice if it takes 10 minutes to set up your practice area. Ideally, you should set up a dedicated area. Any corner of your house, garage, or property will do. It just needs to have a safe backstop. 

I’m lucky that I have a big property. In my basement, right outside my office, there is a sliding glass door. It opens to a clearing where I can see 100 yards to a safe backstop. I’m in the country, so no one is ever around. However, I always check for people or animals before I begin to practice. So I dry fire at actual shooting distances.

If you are not so lucky, many people use garages or basements. All you really need is about 15 feet and a wall. Also, if you have some privacy, the outdoors is a great place to practice.

Target focus is a common problem with precision rifle dry fire at short ranges. Some scopes can focus (also called parallax) down to close distances, so getting a clear image at a close target is not a problem. However, if your scope only focuses down to 50 yards, do not despair, you can still dry fire. Simply keep your zoom low. This will allow you to focus on targets that are closer than the marked parallax yardage. 

You may still have to extend your dry-fire area to 20 feet or longer depending on your specific scope. But remember, you don’t need to see your target super clearly. In this case, your target is really just a reference point so you can practice your skills. You are not trying to identify a target, so if it’s a little fuzzy, that’s okay. You should be working on position, structure, and trigger pull. Later, I’ll discuss a device you can use to help with this situation.

Another helpful dry-fire tip is to use a high-contrast target. A bright piece of tape on a white wall works great. Also, light the target well. When I dry fired in my garage, I used a work light on my target to brighten my sight picture. 
 

Accessories
 

The most important accessory for your dry-fire practice is a timer. It can be as simple as a kitchen timer or the timer on your phone. All you need is something that beeps after a certain settable time has elapsed. There are dedicated phone apps for dry fire that work well. If you are serious about improving, I recommend purchasing a shot timer designed to time shooting. In addition to being a timer, they can also detect gunfire and show elapsed time from when the timer goes off to when the shot was fired. 

There are lots of good shot timers on the market. The one I have is the AMG Lab Commander. The reason I got this particular timer was because it works well for dry fire. The microphone is sensitive enough to pick up a dry-fire shot. There are only a few timers that work well for both live fire and dry fire.

Another accessory I highly recommend is the Indoor Dryfire Training System. Its standout feature is that it comes with a lens that allows your scope to focus to around 12 feet, regardless of the focus feature on your scope. 

Finally, if you want some feedback on your dry fire, I recommend checking out the Mantis X. It’s an accelerometer you can attach to your pistol or rifle. Combined with the phone app, this system can tell you how steady you are and how good a trigger press you made. It has lots of helpful features and integrated games to make your practice interesting and fun. In conclusion, if you want to get better at shooting, dry fire is really the ticket. Hope this helps.