​Dry Fire Practice – Dry Fire Tools

Pressing the trigger during dry fire is an opportunity to practice trigger discipline. Is your finger properly placed on the trigger? Are you pressing straight back? Is the trigger press smooth? Are you releasing to the reset point, or are you taking the trigger full travel forward?

There are so many things to consider for such a simple act as pressing a trigger.

There is a simple exercise to achieve the straight trigger press. Use a rubber band to simulate the trigger. Put your shooting hand into a simulated grip. Place the rubber band on the trigger finger between the tip and first joint. Holding the rubber band with your support hand. Practice smoothly pulling your trigger finger back. Pay attention to the rest of your fingers. You want to pull your trigger finger back without affecting the rest of your hand. Squeezing the whole hand when pulling the trigger back can adversely affect shot placement.

One training tool to verify a smooth trigger press is a simple coin. Place a coin on the tip of the slide then press the trigger. The goal is to cycle the trigger without disturbing the coin.

There are some tools that allow you to perform several trigger presses without cycling the slide. The simplest is to use Dry Fire Cord (https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/dry-fire-cord/) which serves several purposes. First, it blocks the barrel so it cannot have a live round loaded. Next, it provides a visual indication a clear firearm with a cord that extends out of the ejection port and barrel. Finally, it allows the trigger to be cycled without racking the slide.

The Dry Fire Cord does not reset the action so the striker/firing pin cannot be damaged since it is not being cycled. Unfortunately, the Dry Fire Cord cannot be used with a laser cartridge. This tool works on Glock, M&P, Sig, Kimber CZ, Walther and more. I tried it on my Springfield XDS Mod2 and it worked.

Another tool that allows for trigger cycling is the xMAG by BLUEOPS. (https://www.blueops-tech.com/) This system consists of an xMAG Smart Magazine, an xLSR laser cartridge, an xTRG Smart Target, and a mobile app. These components work together to provide the firearm a cycling trigger and a shot indication. The app provides training feedback and drills. These tools work on Glock and Sig firearms.

Releasing the trigger to the reset point only is a little harder to train. A great tool for this is the Shot Indicating Resetting Trigger (SIRT) pistol. (https://nextleveltraining.com/) There are several versions of SIRT tools, pistols and rifles. These tools are analogs for the pistol chosen. For example, the SIRT 110 is an analog for the Glock 17/22.

SIRT tools have an adjustable trigger to allow a match to the trigger feel of the pistol/rifle being simulated. The trigger actuates two lasers. One when the trigger reaches the take up point, the other when the trigger ‘fires’ the shot. This allows for training in riding the reset. When responding to a deadly threat it is necessary to fire multiple shots. Riding the reset is the quickest way to fire multiple shots.

The SIRT pistol also adds a new dimension to dry fire practice. The laser gives you the ability to see where the shot is placed. This verifies the accuracy of the process you have been working so hard to ingrain in your neural pathways. Without knowing where the shot is being placed it is not possible to know that something in your skill set needs correcting.

The SIRT pistol is not a cheap tool. It is a very good tool, just not cheap. While you are considering the cost, look at the cost and time to do live fire at a range. It won’t take long to offset the cost of a SIRT pistol that can be used anywhere for training.

SIRT is not the only solution to see shot placement. Another tool is the laser cartridge. Two examples are the Laserlyte (https://www.laserlyte.com/) and Strikeman (https://www.strikeman.io/?view=sl-749B0ABD) cartridges. They are inserted in the chamber of your firearm and act as a snap cap and indicate the shot placement. This will turn your firearm into a laser pistol that verifies your training. This is a bonus because you are building neural pathways with your carry pistol rather than a training device.
The shortfall in this type of tool is their use on a single action pistol. It will be necessary to rack the slide prior to each shot. As mentioned in prior posts this can create a training scar. If you are using a double action pistol this is not an issue.

Another approach to the dry fire exercise is the MANTIS X system. (https://mantisx.com/) This system uses a sensor mounted to your own firearm that is linked to an app to analyze your dry fire experience. It analyzes trigger control and muzzle trace. It provides an all-round training experience. The X10 Elite model has app features that track training on shotguns and bows (archery app). It also analyzes your draw. The X10 and X3 can also be used to track and analyze live fire.

There are more dry fire tools such as the LaserLyte pistol (https://laserlyte.com), Strikeman System (https://www.strikeman.io/products/strikeman-laser-firearm-training-system) and Coolfire Trainer (https://coolfiretrainer.com/). The most important thing is to do is the dry fire practice. We can’t all go to the range daily, or even weekly. We need another option. Getting in the habit of daily dry fire training our skills will stay sharp.
 
Nest I will talk about shot tracking software.